The Power of Triplets
by Ravena Felidae
Summary: The Nekojiwa clan are well known for their use of cats in battle in Sunagakure just as their allies, the Inuzuka clan are in Konohagakure. But when a Nekojiwa kunoichi finds out that she has been betrothed to a Kiba Inuzuka, hell breaks loose.Review pls!
1. Meet the Nekojiwa Triplets!

R.F.: My first fanfic, no flames please.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto but I do own my OCs.

* * *

Chapter 1: Meet the Nekojiwa Triplets

"DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!!!!!!!!!!!! COME BACK HERE I'M GONNA KILL YOU!!!!!!!!!!" yelled a red headed girl as she chased her father over the rooftops of Sunagakure. A black Suna headband holding up her red bangs indicated she was a kunoichi of the village. Her long bright red hair streamed behind her as she ran faster. She wore a dark pink hooded sweatshirt which revealed her belly over a sleeveless crimson turtleneck top. She also wore a red heart-shaped gemstone on thin black collar around her neck. The girl wore her kunai pouch on her right hip attached to a red sash tied around the waist of her khaki shorts. Gold shackles covering half of her forearms glinted in the sun. A black, red-eyed kitten wearing a collar matching her mistress bounded after her.

(Pause)Meet Hikari Nekojiwa, first born of the Nekojiwa triplets. Hikari is one girl that's true to the meaning of 'girl power'. Tough, independent and confident, she is one girl that you don't want to mess with. Hikari is a ninjutsu type and is very adept to fire techniques. She is the owner of Akane of the Flames, a black cat with the ability to transform into a pyrokenetic saber-toothed panther with snow- white wings. (Unpause)

Shouta Nekojiwa had a look of fear and panic as Hikari began closing in on him. The tawny male lion running next to him wore the exact same expression. "Faster Shouta! She's gaining on us!!!"

" This is all YOUR fault, Tekagi**(1)**!!!! You just HAD to open your big mouth about the whole 'Her-being engaged-to-that-Inuzuka kid' thing!!!!!!!" yelled Shouta as continued running.

" Oh sure, go ahead, blame ME for YOUR mistake of leaving your truth serum lying about the house!!! Did you really think Hikari was going to believe that we were moving to Konoha because Tomoyo was feeling homesick!!!!!"

"GET BACK HERE!!!!!!!!"

_'I'mdeadI'mdeadI'mdeadI'mdeadI'mdead………'_ Shouta thought as the gap between him and his daughter was getting smaller and smaller. He turned to Tekagi." Tekagi! Transform!"

Tekagi nodded. "Winged Beast Transformation Jutsu!!!" he yelled jumping of the roof sideways as he a puff of smoke engulfed him. The smoke blew away revealing a much larger Tekagi with long saber-tooths and huge feathery white wings. Shouta quickly leapt onto Tekagi's back before taking of into the air." YOU ARE NOT GETTING AWAY THAT EASILY DAD!!!! Akane!" Hikari called to her cat.

"Got it! Winged Beast Transformation Jutsu!!!" Akane yelled, transforming into her winged beast form. (Note: See description above)

Hikari flipped herself onto Akane's back as Akane began to take off. Once behind her father, Hikari took out a weapons scroll and summoned her favorite weapon, Flaming Wind Cutter, a huge, 8-ton boomerang (A/N: Think of Sango's boomerang) and flung it at her father with all her strength. Tekagi dodged, just narrowly missing the flying object. The boomerang flew pass Shouta and Tekagi but of course, the boomerang began spinning back towards the two. Shouta was lucky to be able to duck in time to avoid decapitation. Flaming Wind Cutter flew back to Hikari, who caught it with one hand. '_Kuso!!!!_' she cursed in her head.

Tekagi flapped his wings harder, gaining speed. Shouta looked over his shoulder to see Hikari nowhere in sight. "Phew! I think we lost her!" he said, calming down a bit. Tekagi sighed in relief. "Thank goodness".

"You wish!" exclaimed Hikari suddenly appearing in front of her father and lion. Shouta nearly jumped out of his skin as Tekagi nearly skidded to a stop in mid-air. She began forming a few hand seals.

_'We're in trouble…'_thought Shouta and Tekagi at the same time.

Hikari and Akane both took in a deep breath. "Fire Style: Double Grand Inferno Jutsu!!!!" they both yelled, expelling huge fireballs from their mouths.

* * *

"Hey mom? Where's dad and Hikari?" asked a young violet haired woman followed by a sandy colored cougar into her parents room. She was around 17 to18-years of age, stunningly beautiful with her long wavy violet hair framing her pale, heart-shaped face. Her black Suna headband held back her hair. She wore an amethyst oval gemstone around her neck on a black cloth collar. The gem sparkled visibly against the dark purple background of her turtleneck, sleeveless top that revealed her belly. For pants, she wore a pair of black flowing pants bound at her ankles with her kunai pouch tied to her waist by a purple sash. Black, fingerless gloves with metal plates bearing the Suna symbol and black geta**(1)** sandals completed the outfit.

(Pause) Hi, I'm Zakuro Nekojiwa, oldest sister and jounin instructor of the Nekojiwa triplets. I specialize in earth-type jutsus. I'll reveal more about myself some other time so don't bother asking the authoress. My partner is a female cougar known as Tsuchi of the Earth, or just plain Tsuchi. As you can imagine, Tsuchi's Beast Form takes the form of a larger, saber-toothed version of her with a pair of white wings. ( Unpause)

Tomoyo Nekojiwa smiled cheerfully as she loaded two boxes containing hers and her husband's belongings onto Kushi**(1)**, her lioness, who carefully balanced the items on her back as she walked out of the room to the awaiting cart outside the house. "Oh, they just went out to have one more look around Sunagakure before we leave, isn't that just sweet," she said, placing a hand on her cheek and smiled in such a way that the air around her started to sparkle. Suddenly, a loud crash was heard outside just a few seconds before Tomoyo's two other daughters entered the room with their cats resting on their shoulders. Both of them had identical features with exception of their hair-color and hairstyles. One of them had long dark blue hair tied in a ponytail and a grey Suna headband tied around her neck. The grey, blue-eyed cat sitting on her head yawned sleepily. "Tomoyo-sama, Hikari-sama and Shouta-sama have returned…." said the cat in a misty voice.

"What Yue said…." said the girl in a monotone voice.

(Pause) This is Kaori Nekojiwa, second born of the Nekojiwa triplets. Don't let her stare intimidate you, cause that would haunt you for quite a while. Kaori is the intelligent one in the teamand her strategizing skills are an advantage in a fight. In addition to that, she is a genjutsu user, using techniques involving lightning. The little grey cat on her head goes by the name of Yue of the Shadows. Yue's Beast Form takes on the form of a grey, winged, saber-toothed leopard.(Unpause)

"And from the looks of it mother, it's not exactly a pretty sight," said the second girl cheerfully. This girl had shoulder-length, bright green hair and wore a pair of round frameless glasses. Her face glowed with happiness with a smile. Her white Suna headband held her hair back in the form of a bandanna with her green bangs poking out (A/N: Kinda like Yoli from Digimon series 2). The cat wrapped around her shoulders grinned.

(Pause) Finally, let me introduce you to sweet Cori Nekojiwa. As you can guess, she's the third Nekojiwa triplet. Cori is one the sweetest girls in the whole world, with a heart of gold and the pure smile of an angel. But don't let the looks fool ya', despite Cori's sweet exterior she an ace at Taijutsu and an aspiring medic-nin-in-training taking after our mom. Cori's techniques involve water and ice. Jubei of the Water is just as sweet and lovable as her mistress. Her Beast Form is a winged, white, blue striped, saber-toothed tiger.(Unpause)

The 43-year old medic-nin sighed a bit. '_Another fireball jutsu………_' she thought as she got up to greet her daughter followed by Kushi dragging in her scorched husband and Tekagi through the door

* * *

Later that day, as the sun was beginning to set, the Nekojiwa family gathered at the gates of Sunagakure." Okay, is everyone here Zakuro?" asked Shouta, who was now covered in bandages and had one arm in a sling.

"Everyone's here dad, except mom," replied Zakuro in a bored tone.

"All cats accounted for, Shouta-sama," said Tsuchi.

"That's funny, usually Tomoyo is here on time, I wonder wh-""Sorry we're late!" piped Tomoyo and Kushi, popping up from behind Shouta and Tekagi.

"GAH!!!!" yelled the two in shock. Both panted hard while Shouta clutched his chest. '_How does she do that?_'

Hikari rolled her eyes." And he calls himself an elite jounin…." she muttered to Akane who was sitting on her shoulder. Akane snickered.

Cori looked at her sister's sour look. "Now, now, Hikari, lighten up, it can't be that bad to get engaged. For all we know, this Inuzuka guy might be cute."

"You wish…."

"Though I am curious, how did Hikari get engaged anyway dad?" asked Kaori, side-glancing at her father who stiffened up.

"Yes, how Shouta-sama?" asked Yue, causing him to sweat even more.

"He made a bet with a friend of his. If he had a daughter, Shouta was supposed to betroth her to his friend's first born son. He chose Hikari since technically she was the first to be born after Zakuro-sama," explained Tekagi, earning himself a hard nudge in the ribs from his master.

"YOU WHAAT!!!!!!!!!!!" yelled Hikari, flaring up.

"Would ya' look at the time, we better get moving, let's go!!!!" said Shouta suddenly, forgetting his injuries and taking off like a rocket.

"I'M GONNA GET YOU!!!!!!!"

Everyone sweat dropped. "My, father sure recovered fast didn't he?" asked Cori. Jubei nodded in agreement.

"With Hikari on his tail, why shouldn't he?" asked Tekagi as Zakuro hitched him up to the cart next to his mate.

"Well, let's not dally now shall we? Onwards, to Konohagakure!!!" announced Tomoyo, causing the air to sparkle brightly.

"YEAH!" yelled Cori and Jubei at the same, pumping their fist/paw in the air before running off into the desert. Tomoyo, Kushi and Tekagi followed suit, pulling the cart behind them.

Zakuro and Kaori folded their arms as they side-glanced each other for a moment and shrugged before taking off after their family with Yue riding on Kaori's head and Tsuchi running behind them.

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Raven's Familiar: Nya! I'm finally done with my first chapter!

**Translations-**

_**Tekagi -**_Metal claws attached to a metal band worn across the palm attached to another metal ring worn on the wrist. A well

known weapon as well as a tool shinobi use for scaling walls.

_**Kushi -**_A semi-circular hair comb used for decoration worn by geishas. Undercover kunoichi would wear these as part of their

disguise. This hair accessory was also used to rake at an opponent's eyes and some kushi have specially sharpened teeth,

permitting a hacking strike.

_**Geta-**_ A form of Japanese wooden sandal usually worn with a kimono. A geta is a wooden sole with two planks that extend

from the bottom. Kunoichi would wear these to deliver bone-crushing kicks. (You'll see why I chose this particular

footwear for Zakuro.)


	2. Love at first sight? NOT!

**Chapter 2: Love at First Sight? NOT!!!**

(Meanwhile in Konoha)

"A FIANCEE!!! Why I am only told this now!" yelled Kiba as he paced his room back and forth. Tsume Inuzuka sighed as she sat on Kiba's bed next to Akamaru as they watched him wear a path on the floor.

"Kiba, please understand, I'm just as against this as you are but a deal's a deal. It was your father's wish before he died."

" Mom, I am betrothed to a NEKOJIWA girl! A CAT person, hello!!"

"True, but the Nekojiwa clan has helped our clan in many battles, so get over it."

"But I hate girls!"

"What Sakura, Hinata, Ino, Tenten and that Suna girl? They're girls," Tsume pointed out.

"Them? Those girls are just my FRIENDS mom."

"And your point?"

"I'm NOT getting engaged to some girl I've never met! Even if she's a member of our allies' clan!" yelled Kiba rubbing his head in frustration.

"Like I said, get over it Kiba, this conversation is over," said Tsume, patting Kiba's head before walking out of the room closing the door behind her.

Kiba flopped onto his bed face forward, sighing in exasperation into the mattress. Akamaru nuzzled his master with his muzzle. Kiba lifted his head for a moment to look at his dog. "My life sucks Akamaru……"

Suddenly, the door opened again as Tsume popped her head in the room. "By the way, they're arriving tomorrow afternoon," she said before slamming the door shut again. Kiba slammed his head onto the bed again. "UGH!…." he muttered into the sheets.

* * *

(Next Afternoon)

"It's so nice to you again Tomoyo-chan, it's been a while hasn't it?" asked Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage, smiling her old friend.

Tomoyo smiled back sweetly. "Indeed Tsunade-sama, I'm so glad to be back in Konoha again, and you're looking as radiant as ever."

"Why thank you," replied Tsunade, beaming. She craned her neck to the side to look at the Nekojiwa sisters and smiled at them. "I see your daughters take after both of you."

'Unfortunately for me…' thought Hikari staring at the back of her father's head. Shouta shuddered as he felt Hikari's piercing gaze boring a hole in his back.

"Getting back to business, here are your new Konoha headbands and as of today you are all officially ninja of Konohagakure," announced Tsunade beckoning to her assistant Shizune, who presented the family with their new headbands bearing the Konoha symbol, two of them were usual dark blue while another two were a bright black in colour. In addition to that, there was one misty gray and a snow white one as well.

The family gladly accepted them. Shouta and Hikari tied theirs traditionally around their foreheads while Zakuro tied her headband around her head as a hair band as usual. Tomoyo sported her headband as a belt. Kaori and Cori however, decide to change their usual style. Kaori tied her headband around her forehead like her father and sister while Cori tied her headband around her neck.

"We swear we would be loyal to Konoha as long as we are shinobi of this village, Tsunade-hime," said Shouta on behalf of his whole family.

Tsunade nodded in approval. "Good, Shouta and Tomoyo Nekojiwa, you're now dismissed and now if you excuse me, I wish to talk to your daughters alone."

The married couple nodded and made their way out of the office to their cats awaiting outside the office. As soon the door was shut, the girls turned to face the Hokage. "What's this all about, Tsunade-sama? "

"This is concerning the arrangement for you all to be added as Konoha's new genin team, Team 11, with your older sister as your sensei."

"Why am I not surprised………."muttered Zakuro folding her arms.

"Of course, there is a catch to this ", added Tsunade.

"A catch? " the girls asked in unison.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

(Later that day)

" Well, this is it, the Inuzuka household, our new home," said Shouta as his family stood in front of the house with their belongings placed behind them.

Suddenly, a series of barking erupted as a one-eyed black wolf and three grey wolves rushed out of the house and charged at the family. Quickly, Tekagi, Kushi and Tsuchi stood between the charging canines and the family and roared loudly, causing the wolves to skid to a stop and run off, whimpering like puppies. Tomoyo sighed as she placed a hand on her cheek. "It's always the same greeting every time we come here."

"Indeed Tomoyo-chan," said a new voice.

Tomoyo looked up to see her long time best friend standing at the doorway of the house smiling happily. "Konnichiwa, Tomoyo-chan, Shouta-san," greeted Tsume Inuzuka.

"Tsume-chan! It has been a while since we last met hasn't it? " replied Shouta, smiling back in return.

The Inuzuka smiled. " Well, come on, don't just stand there in the sun, come in, come in,"

Shouta and Tomoyo smiled as they picked up their luggage and walked inside with Kushi and Tekagi at their heels. The Nekojiwa sisters stood still for a moment as the wind blew past them.

"I think they forgot us…" said Cori.

"No, ya'think? " replied Kaori sarcastically as they picked up their bags and walked inside.

(Later, in the living room)

"Kiba , I want you to meet Hikari Nekojiwa, your new fiancée, and this is her cat, Akane. Hikari, this is my son, Kiba Inuzuka, your new fiancé, and his dog, Akamaru," introduced Tsume, putting a hand on both their shoulders. " Why don't you two say hello?"

Hikari and Kiba both stiffly held each other's hand in greeting and looked coldly into each other's eyes.

"Hello, Kiba."

"Hello, Hikari."

Everyone sweatdropped. 'That's it?' thought everyone.

At that moment, Kiba's older sister appeared in the room. "Okaa-san? I'm home, is the Nekojiwa family-" she interrupted herself as Hana found herself staring at the conflicting aura waving between the new 'couple'. " I guess they are….."

"Oh, Hana, your back, I want you to meet the Nekojiwa family. I'm sure you remember my two old friends, Tomoyo and Shouta," said Tsume as she introduced the smiling couple.

"Their oldest daughter, Zakuro, who's just your age by the way, and her cougar, Tsuchi." Zakuro and Tsuchi looked up. " Wassup…" they both said.

"Cori and Jubei." Cori and her cat smiled angelically as they looked at the Inuzuka sister. " Hello, Hana-neesan."

"Kaori and Yue." " Greetings…" the two said, lifting up a hand/paw.

"And the red-head having the staring competition with Kiba over there is his new fiancée, Hikari and the black kitten sitting next to Akamaru is Akane."

"Hmph!" went Kiba and Hikari as they turned from each other folding their arms.

"Stupid cat-person…" " Dog-loving loser…" they muttered, loud enough for each other to hear.

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME!!!" they both yelled at the same time turning back to each other flaring.

"I can't believe I'm engaged to an **uncute** girl like you!" yelled Kiba, with electricity crackling in the background.

"Well excuse me, buster! I can't believe I got someone as **scruffy** as you for a fiancé!" retorted Hikari with flames burning in her background.

"UGLY!"

"BASTARD!"

"MOGGY!!"

"MUTT!!"

"GRRR!!!!" they both growled angrily as electricity and flames blazed and crackled in the backgrounds. Sparks flew as they stared into each other's eyes. (A/N: And not in a good way, believe me…)

Hana, Tsume and the rest of the family shrank back further into the as they whipped their heads back and forth watching the two pre-teens shoot insults at each other continuously.

"(Sigh!) And they say us animals can't get along well..." said Akane in exasperation. Akamaru whined in agreement.

"**DOOFUS!!!**"

"**JERK!!!**"

"Hey, Kaori-oneesama?"

"Yes, Cori?"

"Shouldn't we stop them?"

"There's no need too…" replied Kaori as Hikari and Kiba were suddenly held back by Zakuro and Hana, who slipped their arms underneath their armpits, lifting up the two arguing the genin, despite the cries of protests. Tsume quickly pretended to look at her watch (although she wasn't wearing one).

"Well would you look at the time, I guess I should be showing you all to your rooms right now!" she suddenly piped up , hustling the Nekojiwa family out of the room. Hana suddenly dropped Kiba on the floor before walking out.

Soon, nobody was left in the room except for Kiba sitting in the middle of the room rubbing a sore spot and Akamaru, who walked up to his master and pawed his arm, whining. Kiba picked up Akamaru and placed the puppy on his lap, scratching him behind the ears. "You are so lucky you don't know who your parents are Akamaru…"

Akamaru cocked his to the side as if to say, 'huh?'

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

R.F: Gosh, I am so sorry readers for not finishing this chapter sooner, I was kinda busy for quite some time…By the way, here is a lists of pairings I've been considering.

Kiba X Hikari (at some point….)

Shino X Kaori (though not so serious)

Rock Lee X Cori (hey, the poor guy needs a girlfriend after all….)


	3. Meeting Hinata Hyuuga

Chapter 3: Meeting Hinata Hyuuga

The sun shone brightly on Cori's face, waking up the green haired kunoichi instantly. Yawning, Cori slipped out of her bed, putting on her glasses as she tiptoed passed the beds containing her sisters's sleeping figures, out of the room. At the same time, Jubei too woke up just as her mistress passed her basket were she slept with her own sisters. Yawning and stretching, the little white kitten jumped out of the basket and followed Cori down the Inuzuka hallways to the bathroom.

After freshening up and changing into her usual attire, Cori and Jubei walked downstairs into the kitchen to find Hana Inuzuka preparing breakfast.

"Ohayo, Hana-oneesan/sama!" greeted two at the same time, cheerfully smiling happily.

Hana smiled back. " Ohayo, Cori-san, Jubei-san."

It was then Jubei noticed the uniform Hana had on. " Hana-neesama, are you going to work?" Hana nodded as she finished setting the table.

" Hana-oneesan, you're a medic-nin right?" asked Cori curiously.

Hana nodded again. " That's right, I'm a vetenarian to be exact."

Cori and Jubei's eyes grew wide and sparkling in interest. " Really! I've always wanted to be a vet-nin!" piped up Cori, whose eyes sparkled even more in admiration.

Hana smiled at the sparkly, happy pair in front of her. ' Now if only Kiba could be as adorable…' "Maybe one of these days, you could help me at the animal hospital, Cori-san."

Cori and Jubei's eyes grew even brighter. " Really!"

" Really, but right now I've gotta scoot, I'm gonna be late for work, see'ya!" said Hana, patting Cori's head and stroking Jubei before she left the house. Cori and Jubei smiled happily.

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After eating breakfast (and leaving a note, of course), Cori and Jubei left the house to explore Konoha for a place to train. As they walked away from the Inuzuka compound, Jubei transformed into her Winged Beast form while walking next to her mistress. On cue, Jubei stretched her wings and took into the skies with Cori riding sidesaddle on her back.

As the two soared through the air (A/N: Well, Jubei's really doing the soaring, but you get what I mean…), Cori and Jubei breathed in the fresh scent of morning air. " Ah, I have to admit, it's actually more refreshing flying here than back at Suna, don't you agree Jubei?" asked Cori as she pushed a strand of bright green hair behind her ear.

Jubei flapped her wings once more, bringing them higher. " Well, we are in Konoha, Cori-sama, so the air here is a lot more moist thanks to the greenery scattered all over the area."

Cori placed a finger on her cheek and looked upwards. "Hmm, I guess you do have a point there Jubei."

Suddenly, Cori and Jubei's extremely sharp ears heard a series of loud thumping and hard panting just below them. Upon looking down, they both could see someone beating the hell out a stump of wood. Curious, the two flew down for a closer look, landing not too far from the person. Cori quickly slid off Jubei's back and walked towards the location of the person. Jubei caught up to her after transforming back to her normal form. Hidden up a tree, Cori managed to get a good look of the practioner.

It was a girl with short navy-blue hair and pearl white eyes and looked just around Cori's age. Her dirty clothes and minor injuries covering her whole body were a telltale sign that she has been training herself hard. The girl breathed slow and steady as she kept thrusting her palms on a wooden training stump. Finally, the girl stopped and looked at the spot where she kept pounding. Her head was hung down but from where Cori and Jubei were sitting, they were very unsure of the reason. Suddenly, the girl turned and slumped against the stump, slowly lowering herself into a sitting position. The girl appeared extremely unhappy as she tucked her knees underneath her chin. Small teardrops formed at her eyes and ran down her face as she look at her bruised and bloodstained palms covered in splinters.

As Cori and Jubei sat in the trees, watching the sad girl, both of them heard a large cracking sound beneath them. Both of them looked down at the branch they were sitting on before looking at each other. "Uh-oh," they both said as the branch they were sitting on suddenly gave way. They both screamed as they started falling towards the ground. Quickly, both of them twisted in mid-air, and ended up landing on their feet.

"Fyuu that was close!" said Cori.

"Wh-whose there?!" called the girl, quickly wiping away he tears.

" Uh-oh, busted…" muttered Jubei. Seeing as they were discovered, Cori stood up with Jubei on her shoulder. They both sweat dropped as they scratched their cheeks, grinning.

The girl quirked an eyebrow at them in curiosity.

" Uh, sorry about the surprise, I'm Cori Nekojiwa and this is Suiton no Jubei (A/N: I'm changing the cats titles into Japanese.), we're new here, please to meet you!" greeted Cori cheerfully, as she and Jubei beamed.

The girl smiled back at them. "O-ohayo, I'm Hinata Hyuuga," she said, blushing a little in shyness.

Cori smiled in amusement. But she quickly dropped her smile when she saw a drop of blood trail down from Hinata's hands. Quickly, she appeared in front of Hinata, holding up the girl's hands to inspect them. "Oh dear, your hands are injured quite badly, Hinata-chan," Cori said in concern.

Jubei peeked over Cori's shoulder. " Yeah, your hands are pretty beat up Hinata-san."

Hinata quickly pulled her hands free. "N-no, i-it's n-nothing!" she stuttered in protest as she forced a smile. She flinched in pain as she clenched her fists.

" Don't be silly, your hands are suffering from multiple bruising and bleeding and they are covered in splinters," said Cori.

Hinata kept silent, she definitely couldn't deny that.

Cori smiled softly. "It's okay, I'm a medic-nin-in-training, I could heal you up with a special style of medical ninjutsu I and Jubei developed myself. You would be the first to see my technique, Hinata-chan."

Seeing that Cori was determined to help, Hinata agreed. Smiling, Cori signaled to Jubei to bring her some leaves from the nearby bushes. Carrying a bunch in her mouth, Jubei set the leaves down next to Cori. Hinata watched with curiosity as Jubei closed her eyes and sat down while placing a paw on the leaves. Suddenly, Jubei began glowing blue with chakra. At the same time, Cori was performing a few hand seals. In amazement, Hinata watched, as the leaves under Jubei's paw grew dry and crinkled as Jubei lifted her paw to reveal a blob of water circulating underneath her paw. Cori hands also began glowing with chakra as she held her hands out in front of Jubei, who placed the blob of water on one hand. Immediately, the blob of water grew as it began covering Cori's hand like a glove. Cori touched her other hand and immediately, the same thing happened.

"Hold out your hands, Hinata-chan," instructed Cori with her ever-present smile.

Obediently, Hinata did what she was told. Cori placed her two water-covered hands on Hinata's palms. Hinata's eyes widened, as she saw the splinters embedded in her palms get absorbed into the water. Cori lifted her hands once so that the splinters fell to the ground. She then placed her hands back onto Hinata's. Quickly, the cuts and bruises disappeared. Cori then let the water drop from her hands onto the ground.

Hinata inspected her hands. "S-sugoi…, not even a scar is left…"

"You like it? I call the Water Healing Jutsu. I created it by using a mix of my water chakra and my medic techniques."

Before Hinata could respond, she was interrupted by someone calling her.

" Yo! Hinata-chan!!"called a familiar voice. A series of yapping followed after that.

" Kiba, wait up will'ya, you nut!!" " Wait up, Kiba-san!"

Hinata, Cori and Jubei (Jubei: Hey, why am I always mentioned last?)(R.F: Because you're the cat, and I'm in charge of this.), turned their heads to find Kiba, Akamaru, Hikari, Akane, Kaori and Yue running towards them.

"Kiba-kun!" exclaimed Cori and Hinata at the same time.

"Eh? You know each other?" they asked each other at the same time again.

" Of course we know each other."

" Jinx!"

"Double Jinx! " giggles (A/N: I know it's lame, but I've always wanted to that.)

By that time, the group had reached them. " I knew I'd find you here Hinata. I see you've met Cori-chan and Jubei," said Kiba, smiling.

" Ohayo, Kiba-kun," greeted Cori and Jubei, giving Kiba their warmest smile.

Hinata looked back and forth curiously. "Kiba-kun, Cori-chan, you two know each other?"

Cori and Jubei nodded. " Me and the rest of my family moved in with the Inuzuka family just yesterday afternoon," explained Cori.

"Oi! Don't leave me, Akane, Kaori and Yue out of this…" interrupted Hikari irritably, folding her arms.

Cori and Jubei sweat dropped as she waved a hand over her face. " Oh dear, how silly of me. Hinata-chan, meet my sisters. This is my first sister, Hikari Nekojiwa and Katon no Akane." Upon the intro, Hikari and Akane gave Hinata a large cat-like grin and waved.

"And my second sister, Kaori Nekojiwa and Kage no Yue," finished Cori. Kaori and Yue gave Hinata a small smile of greeting.

Hinata tilted her head to the side a little. " Eh? You're triplets?"

The three sisters (and cats) nodded at the same time.

" Anywho, have you forgotten that we were supposed to meet at the Hokage's Tower, Hinata-chan? The Godaime said that she was going to introduce the triplets as the new Genin Team 11 to the rest of the Konoha 11 today," said Kiba all of a sudden.

" The Konoha 11?" asked the triplets and cats at the same time with big question marks appearing above their heads.

" I'll explain on the way, c -"

" Hold it, squirts!" called a woman's voice from above.

Everyone looked up to see Zakuro and Tsuchi in beast form coming in for a landing. Zakuro slipped off Tsuchi's back as Tsuchi transformed back to her original form.

The triplets blinked in surprise. "Onee-chan?"

" Looks like we caught you guys just in time," said Tsuchi in relief.

" A-ano…" stuttered Hinata, who caught Zakuro's attention.

" Oh hello, who're you?"

In the background, the rest of the people sweat dropped. "Zakuro- oneechan is too straightforward…."they all muttered.

" H-hinata Hyuuga…"

" Hyuuga? Oh, so you're on the teammates Kiba-san mentioned yesterday."

Kiba quirked an eyebrow in confusion. " But I don't remember …."

"My room is near yours, I heard you tell Hana-chan about meeting with your teammates today while she was passing by your room," explained Zakuro. Tsuchi nodded in agreement.

Kaori started clearing her throat. " Ne, onee-chan, didn't you have something important to tell us? "

"Yes, I agree with Kaori-sama," said Yue in her ever-misty voice.

Zakuro placed a hand on her hip, rolled her eyes and sighed. " How could I forget…?" she muttered sarcastically. " There's been a change of plans, Tsunade-sama has ordered you guys to bring along two extra people for the 'thing'."

"Two extra people?" asked the triplet group to each other. Suddenly, they slowly turned their heads until their gaze rested on a certain boy, dog and girl.

"Why are you looking at us like that?" asked Kiba sweat dropping.

Suddenly, Hikari, Kaori, Akane and Yue started smiling evilly. As for Cori and Jubei, their smile appeared unchanged but Jubei's eyes suddenly took on a creepy twist while Cori's glasses shone over until you couldn't see her eyes. (A/n: Like Kabuto when he pushes up his glasses sometimes or when he has his scheming, evil moments.)

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Raven's Familiar: Another chapter done, NYA!

Hikari and Akane: Stay tuned everyone!

Kaori and Yue: To the next chapter of…

Cori and Jubei: The Power of Triplets!

Zakuro and Tsuchi: waves tiny flags and yawns


	4. A New Mission For The Konoha 11!

**Chapter 4: A New Mission For The Konoha 11!**

" Man, this stinks, what's so special about this stupid new team that it takes the whole of the Konoha 11?!" yelled our all time favorite, whiskered face, loud-mouthed blond, Naruto Uzumaki , in irritation.

" Shut Up, you baka!" yelled his teammate, Sakura Haruno, giving a sock to the head.

"ITAI!!!!!"

Shikamaru sighed exasperatedly as he leaned back on a tree. "For once, I agree with Naruto…" he muttered. _' Something must be wrong with me, '_he added mentally.

"Oh, put a sock in it, Shikamaru," snapped Ino, tossing her platinum blond ponytail irritably. " Why do you have to be such a wet blanket, I for one think this is a much more efficient way for all of us to meet the team rather than just bumping into each other on the streets."

Rolling his eyes, Shikamaru decided to change the subject. Shifting his gaze to Sakura, he asked, "By the way, do ya' have any idea who the new team are Sakura-chan?"

Sakura shook her head. "Sorry Shikamaru, I'm just as clueless as everyone else."

"Surely you must have heard something Sakura-san, being Tsunade's subordinate and all," asked Neji, speaking up for the first time in a while.

Going silent for a while, Sakura closed her eyes while she searched her memory. "Wait, I remember now!" exclaimed Sakura, slamming her fist into her palm as her eyes popped wide open. Everyone quickly leaned in to listen, yes, even the ever monotone Shino Aburame.

"Well, what is it Sakura-chan, don't leave us hanging!" pressed Tenten eagerly.

" Well, I do recall one occasion when I happened to hear Tsunade-sama tell Shizune-san about the transfer of four siblings who were transferring here from Sunagakure on special business with their allies, the Inuzuka clan, unfortunately, that's all I could find out, I didn't even manage to catch a name or at least the genders of the new team," sighed Sakura, drooping her head.

" Yosh! Not to worry your youthful mind, Sakura-san, we can always ask Kiba-san the moment he arrives!" exclaimed Rock Lee cheerfully.

"Yeah, I guess your right, Lee-san, speaking of who, where is Kiba and Akamaru anyway? It's not like them to be late."

Naruto looked around to see that Sakura was right. "Yeah, come to think of it, I don't see Hinata-chan around either."

" Which is why we are going to postpone the meeting of the new team till later, because I've got a rescue mission for you guys," said the lady Hokage herself, out of the blue, along with Shizune carrying her pet pig Tonton.

The remainder of the Konoha 11 quickly turned their attention towards Tsunade at the words "rescue mission". Seeing that everyone was alert, she began the briefing for the mission. "Earlier today, a villager witnessed a group of rogue ninja, whose origins are unknown, ambushing Hinata Hyuuga and Kiba Inuzuka. The group has been described to be wearing coloured hooded cloaks. Since not much time has passed since then, there is likely possibility that the group is still in the Fire Country's borders. Your mission is to find these rogue ninja and get back our comrades, are you clear?" said Tsunade.

The nine genin all nodded. Tsunade continued with her instructions, " Good, you are all to split up into your respective teams and search the area, Shino Aburame, Sakura Haruno and Naruto Uzumaki, I'm sending your team to search the Northern Border, Team Gai, you would search the Southern Border, and Team 10, the Eastern Border would be your area. I have sent all of your jounin instructors to the Western Border to search for the leader who was reported to be seen heading in that direction. If you no further inquiries, move out!" she commanded. The Konoha 8 nodded before heading off.

……………………………………………………………………………………………...

In the Northern Border, Sakura noticed Shino's grim expression as the team leapt from tree to tree in search of the mysterious intruders. "Shino?"

"Hn?"

"Are you worried about your teammates?" she asked.

Shino shook his head a little. "No, it's just that I've heard this is not the first time Hinata-chan has been kidnapped before. When she was young, a cloud ninja attempted to kidnap her but was killed by Lord Hiashi before he could get away."

Naruto and Sakura's eyes widened. Shino continued, "It was said the kidnap was so that the Hidden Cloud could learn the secret of the Byakugan. But I'm clueless to why they would kidnap an Inuzuka."

"Look, who cares what the reason is! We are going to find those kidnappers and get back our friends! Believe it!" exclaimed Naruto whose gleamed in determination.

**THWUNK!!! **A big boomerang appeared out of nowhere wedged itself in a tree trunk just inches from Naruto's face. Sakura and Shino quickly stopped while Naruto ended up sitting on a branch clutching his chest in shock. Sakura quickly whipped out a kunai and got into a stance. Naruto, who recovered quickly, did likewise.

"Who are you ?! Show yourselves ?!" she demanded, her eyes searching the area around her.

Suddenly, a red and black blur jumped from the trees and landed on branch a few meters away from the team. Both of the figures were donning hooded cloaks with their hoods lowered hiding majority of their faces in the shadows leaving only their mouths visible. The only difference was that one wore a crimson cloak while the other wore a black cloak.

"Who are you and what have you done two Hinata, Kiba and Akamaru?!" demanded Naruto fiercely.

As if in response, the two figures smiled evilly, each revealing a pair of sharp pointy fangs.

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

R.F: (hangs over the side of a cliff tangled up in professional rock climbing equipment) Well, I've heard of cliffhangers but this is just plain ridiculous… Oh well, till next time.


	5. Battle! Konoha Ninjas vs the Mystery Nin

**Chapter 5: Battle! Konoha Ninjas vs. the Mystery Ninjas!**

We start back where we left off. Sakura, Shino and Naruto finally come face to face with two of the mysterious ninja who had kidnapped their comrades. "Who are you and what have you done to Hinata, Kiba and Akamaru?!" demanded Naruto fiercely.

The two ninja did nothing but smiled evilly, each revealing a pair of pointy white fangs.

The Konoha nin were taken aback, suddenly being overwhelmed by a strange feeling in they're gut. Naruto quickly brushed it off. "You bastards! Give us back our friends!!!" yelled Naruto.

Again, he was responded by silence. The figure in the red cloak suddenly lifted his hand and started gesturing as if to say, _'bring it…'_

Ticked off, Naruto began charging, yelling in rage, despite the protests of his teammates. He began forming a hand seal. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he yelled, suddenly filling the nearby branches with copies of himself. "Let's go guys!" Naruto commanded.

"You got it!" the clones replied, leaping at the two ninja standing amidst the clones.

Red merely smiled again, jerking his fingers slightly. All of a sudden, the big boomerang that was lodged in the tree trunk before dislodged it itself and began whirring at the shadow clones destroying them by the dozen. Sakura and Shino watched in amazement as they watched the boomerang weaved it's way through the air as if it had a mind of it's own. As they continued watching, they began noticing it.

"Sakura-san, do you see it too?" asked Shino calmly.

Sakura nodded. "Yeah, I see it, there are puppet strings attached to the boomerang."

"Wrong, look closer."

Sakura squinted a bit more before her eyes suddenly popped wide open. "Hair…?"

Sure enough, although fairly visible, long, silky strands of hair were attached to the boomerang.

Finally, as the last of the shadow clones were destroyed, the boomerang spun back to it's owner, who caught neatly with one hand. Shino's brow furrowed. _"Amazing, to be able to throw and catch a weapon of that size and mass without any effort..., his strength must be even greater than Sakura's…" _Suddenly, Red and Black began charging at them, interrupting Shino's thoughts.

The team quickly scattered. Black took on Shino while Red took on Sakura and Naruto. Shino's bugs began gathering as his teammates began to brace themselves for an attack. For a moment, nobody moved. Suddenly, Red leapt into the air, swinging the boomerang down at Sakura and Naruto.

The two quickly jumped out of the way just as the boomerang sliced the branch they were on cleanly in half. Sakura landed on another tree branch and pounced on Red, kicking him square in the back causing him to fall towards the ground with Sakura above him. Red gritted his teeth as he pulled his arms in and began to spin horizontally towards the ground throwing Sakura off her concentration. "W-woah!" she exclaimed as she began flailing her arms about desperately.

"Sakura-chan!" yelled Naruto as he was about to make a move towards his teammate when a black blur shot past him.

Suddenly, she felt someone grab her hand stopping her from falling. She looked up to see Black gripping her hand tightly in his body lying down on a branch. "What?..." was all she could say.

Red in the meantime quickly opened his arms out at the last moment just as he was inches from the ground. He looked in time just to see Black pull up Sakura.

Sakura still appeared surprised that she was saved by the enemy. But then that surprise was replaced by shock as Black did a roundhouse kick to her in the stomach. At the same time, Red ran up a nearby tree while pulling his hand across his chest. The strands of hair attached to his fingers became taught as the boomerang came spinning back towards Sakura. Before anyone had time to react the boomerang got the girl hard in the stomach pinning her to an extremely thick tree trunk.

"Sakura-chan! Damn you bastards!" yelled Naruto as he made more Shadow Clones and charged at Black.

Red was just about to attack Naruto from behind but was stopped in mid-air by a huge dark cloud consisting of Shino's bugs surrounding his waist. He seemed to suddenly break out into a panicked frenzy as he started struggling like crazy. He bit his lip hard trying to prevent himself from screaming. Sakura looked on while still being pinned to the tree at the waist by the boomerang. "This is soooo not cool...." she muttered in disdain as she propped her head on her elbows on the boomerang with her legs dangling below.

* * *

(In the Eastern Border)

"Kyaaaaa!" yelled Ino as she was hit square on in stomach by a big golden bell attached to a silver colored sash of an impossible length. Ino would have fallen if it Shikamaru hadn't caught her in mid-air. "Thanks, Shikamaru, I owe you big time," said Ino as they both landed on a branch next to Chouji. Shikamaru glared at his team's opponents. Like the description given to him, his opponents indeed wore colored hoods , only the ones his team were facing wore a dark blue cloak and a grey cloak.

"Don't mention it," replied Shikamaru, as his teammates slid into position. "Let's do this. Special combination attack!"

"Ino-"

"-Shika-"

"-Cho!"

"Shadow Possession Jutsu!" yelled Shikamaru, causing his shadow to extend towards the two in front of him. But to his surprise, the shadow shrunk back instead of capturing the enemies' shadow. _'What the- but how is that-….' _

Suddenly, a glint from Blue's weapon caught Shikamaru's eye and interrupted his thoughts.

Shikamaru's eyes widened in realization._ "Of course, he used the bell's shiny surface to reflect light onto his shadow to prevent it from getting captured by my technique. But why the hell is he using bells on a sash as weapons?"_

"My turn! Mind Transfer Jut- AArgh!" yelled Ino as Grey tackled her. The two went crashing into a tree hard.

Chouji quickly countered with his Meat Tank Jutsu, aiming for Blue head on. Blue quickly jumped out of the way towards Shikamaru, kicking him square on the chest. Shikamaru quickly flipped himself over landing on a tree trunk and catapulted himself off the surface throwing a kunai at Blue.

The kunai hit its mark head on but Blue turned into a puff of smoke only to reveal a log in his place.

"Shikamaru! Watch out!" yelled Ino, abandoning her fight with Grey and aiming a punch at Blue, who was about to attack Shikamaru from behind. Blue, having nowhere to land, started plummeting to the ground. Quickly, Blue threw his bells up at Shikamaru and Ino, which wrapped themselves around them before the two had time to escape. As a result, Shikamaru and Ino were yanked of the branch they were on.

Suddenly, a huge hand appeared and grabbed the two before they hit the ground. Chouji quickly pulled his teammates up, and unfortunately for them, Blue as well. Blue cleverly flipped and attached himself to a tree trunk and began tugging on his end of the sash. Soon, Chouji and Blue unwillingly started a game of tug of war.

"HEY CHOUJI! ARE YOU TRYING TO HELP THIS GUY RIP US TO PIECES!!" yelled Ino as she struggled with her bonds with difficulty since she was still grasped in Chouji's hand.

"Oh yeah, sorry about that guys…" said Chouji in an embarrassed tone, as he quickly enlarged his other hand and grabbed the rest of the sash while he released his other hand so that his friends could try free themselves.

Blue quickly repositioned himself on a branch this time and pulled even harder. Chouji felt his legs sliding a little, quickly, Chouji began applying chakra to steady himself . This time, with both hands, Chouji suddenly yanked the sash.

Blue felt himself flying off the branch towards Chouji who punched him hard with his overgrown hand, sending him flying through the trees. As a result, the bonds that were holding Ino and Shikamaru loosened and slid off easily.

"All right!" exclaimed Ino in delight as she began stretching and flexing her sore muscles.

"It's about time Chouji…"muttered Shikamaru, rotating his shoulder.

"Don't thank me yet guys, there's still one more remember?" reminded Chouji, looking around.

The whole team stood in a circle with their backs facing each other, eyes scanning the surroundings carefully. Suddenly, Blue's weapon that lay coiled at their feet, puffed into smoke, causing the group to turn around immediately.

From out of the smoke, a gray blur shot out and landed on an overhanging tree limb above the group. Team 10 looked up to find Gray and Blue giving them a mocking smile. The two each lifted up a finger and wagged it at them, shaking their heads slowly. Gritting her teeth in anger, Ino suddenly launched herself at the two, full tilt.

* * *

(In the Southern Border)

A white-cloaked figure flew straight into a tree trunk hard thanks to one of Rock Lee's kicks. Rock Lee slid back into his fighting stance as White stood up slowly, spitting out a little blood. (A/N: Please note that this battle is on the ground unlike the last two battles that were just described.)

" Surrender cretin, and we would go easy on you and your youthful partner!" exclaimed Rock Lee like some medieval knight.

A huge sweat drop appeared on White's head. Suddenly, Tenten was thrown at Rock Lee causing the two to plough into each other.

"Tenten! Lee!" yelled Neji as he blocked a kick from his green-cloaked opponent. Green quickly widened his legs and leaned back a little. Holding his hands in front him, the left held a little over his head while the right was held next to his chin. Curling his fingers into paws, Green revealed ten, sharp, well-manicured, oval-shaped nails/claws.

"_BYAKUGAN!" _yelled Neji, activating his clan's kekkei genkai, sliding into his own fighting stance. Neji narrowed his eyes in confusion. _'What kind of a stance is that? I've never seen anything like it , a stance that requires a person to lean back, that's no good for neither offense nor defense,_' thought Neji as he analyzed the guy in front of , a thought struck him. Reaching into his pouch, Neji threw a handful of shuriken and kunai at Green.

Green quickly evaded them by bending backwards until his head appeared between his legs. Neji shuddered as Green gave him a creepy smile and curled back up into the same stance again.

'_Just as I thought, that stance was made for evasion, and combining it with that guy's extreme flexibility, he definitely isn't the kind who's going to let himself get caught that easily,' _thought Neji, charging at his enemy.

"_Jyuuken!_" yelled Neji, aiming for a pressure point. As expected, Green dodged that blow easily, and the next one, and the next one, and the- (Neji: GET ON WITH THE STINKIN' STORY ALREADY!!!!!)

Uh….right, so try as Neji might, he couldn't land a single blow on Green. Suddenly, Green placed his hands on Neji's shoulder and flipped over him easily. Neji looked up just in time to see a flash of lenses before Green placed his feet on his back and catapulted of Neji, sending the Hyuuga prodigy stumbling.

Neji quickly turned around to face Green after regaining his balance. At the same, a gust of wind blew past them, causing Green's hood to lift up but Green quickly pulled it down. Although it happened so fast, Neji's sharp eyes were able to catch a single detail from his opponent's face._ 'So, he's near-sighted…interesting..'_ thought Neji, smiling upon seeing an advantage.

Green smiled as he suddenly rushed at Neji. Likewise, Neji rushed in to attack, Byakugan ready. Green made a strike at Neji, who dodged and counter attacked by performing a leg sweep. His opponent quickly jumped high into the air. Neji suddenly appeared behind and struck the back of Green's head. The force caused Green's head lurched forward causing a pair of glasses to fall out from the hood.

In one swift move, Neji quickly grabbed the glasses and hid them in his pocket while Green was desperately searching the ground for his eyewear. Neji rushed forward and was about to aim a kick at Green's head when suddenly, White appeared in front of him and repelled him away. Neji slid a few feet back before coming to a stop. Lee and Tenten appeared beside Neji, panting hard. The team quickly went into their special stances.

White did likewise as his partner stood up slowly. Tenten immediately pulled out a weapons scroll and summoned a kusarigama **(1)** to her hands. Green straightened himself up and smiled at Tenten, pulling out a green-colored scroll and holding it in front of him and rolled it out. A puff of smoke erupted from the scroll almost instantly. The smoke cleared, revealing Green holding a long black, thick metal staff with a metal ball on each end leaning on his shoulder. Still smiling, Green slid into another stance, brandishing the staff in front of him. Suddenly, he twisted the center of the staff, causing a long sharp curved blade to slide out, turning the staff into a scythe.

Tenten nearly dropped her weapon in shock at the size of Green's weapon, but quickly regained her composure. She began swinging the weight as Neji reactivated his Byakugan and Lee, for some reason, twitched his eyebrows.

Suddenly, White and Green leapt high into the air. Team Gai looked up to see a big shiny blade coming towards them.

* * *

In the Western Border, the sound of kunai clashing could be heard, ringing throughout the whole area. Asuma spat out his cigarette as he threw one of his chakra knives at a gold-cloaked ninja who had his back turned to him.

The knife would have hit it's mark if a violet-cloaked figure hadn't stepped in at the last moment and deflected Asuma's weapon, sending it flying in another direction, embedding itself into the tree just next to Asuma's head.

"But how?"

Violet smiled mockingly, lifting up his arm to reveal a gold shackle covering half of the forearm. He flicked it, causing a pinging sound to vibrate in the air.

Kurenai landed next to Asuma, brandishing her kunai while Asuma lit another cigarette.

Violet and Gold backed up towards each other so that they stood back-to-back, with Violet facing Asuma and Kurenai while Gold faced Kakashi and Gai.

Suddenly, Gai rushed forward, aiming a punch at Gold. At the same time, Violet linked arms with his partner and flipped backwards, with help from Gold, who bent forward, lifting up Violet. With both feet, Violet slammed them both into Gai's face sending him flying in the opposite direction. With arms still linked, Violet landed and in turn lifted up Gold who did a donkey kick on Kurenai who had attempted to launch an attack while they were still bent.

As Gold flipped over Violet, they unlinked their arms at the last minute, so that instead of landing on the ground, Gold went flying straight at Kakashi, who blocked and retaliated by grabbing his opponent's foot and swinging him into a tree trunk.

Meanwhile, Violet rushed at Asuma and lashed out a foot. Asuma dodged and slashed his knife at Violet, who blocked with his shackle. Violet then took a step back and did a roundabout kick, knocking Asuma's knife out his hand before performing another roundabout kick. Violet smiled in satisfaction as his geta sandal came in contact with Asuma's face, sending him flying into the air.

Kurenai quickly caught him in mid-air and landed safely on the forest floor. Kurenai clenched her teeth in anger while she glared at Violet's silhouette looking down at them. _'That's it, I have had enough of this!'_ she told herself, performing a few hand seals. "Demonic Illusion: Tree Bind Death! "

Suddenly, Violet found himself bound to the tree trunk behind him. He struggled as Kurenai's head and torso began to grow out of the tree above him holding a kunai.

"It's useless to struggle buddy, you are now completely trapped within my genjutsu," she said, raising the kunai above her head.

But just as she was about to bring down her kunai, Gold appeared and administered a kick to Violet, immediately canceling out the jutsu. (A/N: Remember, one way to break out of Genjutsu is extreme pain.)

Gold helped Violet stand up while he wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. Violet straightened himself as he cracked his neck joints. The two nodded to each other before slapping each other's hand and began to switch opponents. This time, Violet taking on Gai and Kakashi while Gold took on Kurenai and Asuma.

"Let's go, Gai!" yelled Kakashi, leaping towards Violet.

"Hai!" replied Gai, doing the same. "Konoha Senpuu!" he yelled kicking Violet in the face, only to have him puff into smoke, revealing a log in his place with an exploding note attached to it.

"Move it!" yelled Kakashi, pushing Gai out of the way and leaping towards the ground, at that exact moment, the log exploded, showering the two jounin in splinters and bits of wood as they landed on the ground. Violet fazed into view just a good few meters away from the two.

Violet rushed at the two, jumping into the air and aimed a kick at them. Gai jumped away from Kakashi, who grabbed Violet's foot, stopping him in mid-air. Violet's mouth formed an expression of surprise.

Kakashi's eyes narrowed. " It's your turn, Gai!" yelled Kakashi, throwing Violet into the air.

Gai, fazed into view and delivered an uppercut to Violet's chin, causing blood to fly from his mouth. Then, before Violet had time to recover, Gai appeared behind him, wrapping him up tightly in bandages. Grabbing Violet in a big bear hug, Gai flipped himself and his captive over, and began to spin rapidly headfirst into the ground.

"Front Lotus Technique!" he yelled. Suddenly, Gai's hands clutched something that wasn't supposed be on a man's chest. Something big….

'_What the…?' _thought Gai in confusion as he and Violet crashed into the ground. This followed by a 'poof!'

As the smoke cleared, Gai was seen standing over a log. "So, he used a substitution jutsu…" he muttered.

" No ya'think?" asked Kakashi sarcastically.

Gai clenched his fist hard and gritted his teeth. " HE IS TRULY A MOST YOUTHFUL OPPONENT!!!!!!!" yelled Gai, looking towards the sky and grinned. The sun glinted off his teeth brightly.

Kakashi sweat dropped.

Suddenly, Gai's head went smashing into the ground, with Violet standing on the back of his head. Violet placed two fingers in his mouth and whistled to his partner before jumping off Gai's head and began running into the forest. Gold immediately abandoned his battle with Kurenai and Asuma and followed suit.

"Kurenai-san! Asuma-san! You two go after them! I'll take care of Gai!" yelled Kakashi to his teammates.

"Got it!" replied Kurenai, before taking off into the woods with Asuna.

* * *

R.F: Still hanging from the side of a cliff tangled up in equipment

HEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLPPPP!!!!!!!!! I NEED TO USE THE BATHROOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SOMEBODYYY!!!!!!!!!! Please?

Kusarigama- A small scythe attached to a chain and weight. Kohaku from Inuyasha uses a similar weapon.


	6. Ninja Showdown!

Chapter 6: Ninja Showdown!

Okay, so here's the 4-1-1 one what has happened so far since the last chapter. When we last saw the fights, we left off with Gold and Violet abandoning their fight with the jounins and running off into the woods with Kurenai and Asuma following after. Kakashi finally managed to get Gai back on his feet and take off after them. What you guys didn't know was that back in the Eastern, Northern and Southern borders of the Fire Country, the other mysterious ninjas also bolted from their fights gesturing the Konoha 11 to follow. Also, unknown to everyone else, they are soon going to meet up again very soon.

So getting back to the story, we start out where we left off.

Violet and Gold leapt from tree to tree, keeping a good distance away from Kurenai, Asuma, Kakashi and Gai. "It's strange, but I keep having this feeling that they want us to follow them," said Kurenai, ducking underneath a tree branch.

"Join the club," replied Kakashi as he sailed over a tree bough, keeping his eye on the two targets.

Suddenly, Gold and Violet were joined by two others decked in blue and grey hooded cloaks. "Sensei!" called a totally beat up Ino as she and Team 10 came into view and began moving with the jounins.

Asuma looked at his students. "Whoa, what happened to you guys?"

"We got our asses handed to us, big time," replied Shikamaru.

The team of Konoha ninja chased the foursome in front of them to a clearing near a rushing river and a waterfall. There, Gold, Violet, Blue and Grey were joined by Red, Black, Green and White while the Konoha ninjas were joined by Naruto, Sakura, and Shino as well as Team 9. The cloaked ninjas stood together looking at the Konoha ninjas. "All right, where's Hinata, Kiba and Akamaru?! What have you done to them?!" demanded Naruto, gritting his teeth revealing his fangs.

Green smiled, lifted up a hand towards the waterfall and waved his hand back and forth. The waterfall suddenly split apart revealing an unconscious Hinata and Kiba bound and gagged with Akamaru tied up to the neck in a small sack with his muzzle tied shut. "Hinata-sama!" yelled Neji as he was about to move forward but was stopped by Kurenai who placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Easy, Neji…" whispered Kurenai.

"Okay, so what do we know about these guys?" asked Asuma, taking a puff out of a fresh lit cigarette.

Sakura spoke up first. "Red's skills involve a lot upper and lower body strength and wields a huge boomerang which he can manipulate using hair as puppet strings. Black acts a back up to Red."

"Blue and Grey can camouflage themselves well and most likely are the most sneaky in the group. Don't forget to watch for those bells he's holding," said Shikamaru.

"The green and the white one seem to be very skilled in taijutsu and are amazingly flexible. That metal staff he's holding can turn into scythe if he wants it to," explained Neji.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes as he processed this new information in his head. "Hmm, interesting, as for our opponents, the one in violet and in gold seem to be relying mostly on kicking techniques and don't seem to use any weapon in particular."

The cloaked team in front of them slid into fighting stances. Two of each with their own unique stances brandishing their weapons, excluding Violet and Gold. The Konoha team did likewise. "Everyone, remember all the information you've learned and use it against them, Team 10 will act as defense, Naruto, Sakura, Shino and Team 9 will move in as offense. The jounins will move in last," briefed Kakashi as he revealed his Sharingan eye. Suddenly, the rogue nins began charging at them with Red, Blue and Green in the front. "GO!" yelled Kakashi as the Konoha nins began charging forward as well.

Going according to plan, Chouji activated his Meat Tank Jutsu and began rolling forward at incredible speed towards the group. Red, Black, Blue, Grey, Green and White jumped into the air and somersaulted over Chouji while Violet and Gold stood their ground as the rolling Akimichi came closer. At the same time, Violet and Gold raised a foot backwards and swung it down hard. Their feet connected with Chouji, sending him rolling towards the group of Narutos coming towards them causing them puff into smoke. Meanwhile, Shikamaru tried to use his Shadow Possession Technique while Ino tried to use her Mind Transfer Jutsu but once again was foiled by Blue and Grey, who tackled them. Red, Green, Black and White stood with their backs facing each other, as they were surrounded Naruto Shadow Clones, Shino, Sakura, and Team 9. "Now you'll see what happens when you mess with Konoha Ninjas, you mess with one, you'll get the whole package," said Sakura, smirking as she cracked her knuckles menacingly.

"Yes! You will release our youthful comrades in the name of youthful Konoha!" yelled Lee in his special stance. Neji activated his Byakugan while Tenten brandished a metal bo-staff. Red held his boomerang ready while Green went from staff to scythe. What happened next was quick, Red and Green turned around and shot into the air with the help of Black and White who linked their hands together to form footholds. Red swung his boomerang down while Green twisted the centre of his scythe detaching the blade and sent it flying down to earth. Huge explosions of dirt and smoke appeared as the boomerang and scythe sliced through the clones, barely missing the real Naruto. The boomerang came flying towards Sakura who braced for impact as she used her 'abnormal strength of a 12-year-old' to grab the boomerang in mid- air. Sakura felt herself getting dragged about 5- feet from where she was standing as she felt her arms nearly yanked from their sockets before she slid to a stop. The boomerang fell to the ground with a crash. Sakura tried to lift it only to find it not moving an inch._ 'What the hell?! How much does thing weigh?! How the heck can that guy carry this much weight, let alone throw it?!'_

Meanwhile, Rock Lee had grabbed hold of the chain that attached the blade to Green's scythe and yanked at it, causing Green to come flying towards him. Quickly, Green flipped himself so that he went from headfirst to feet first straight at Lee. Lee crossed his arms in front of himself to block but Tenten appeared, kicking Green out of the air, causing him to drop his weapon. White appeared and caught Green just before hitting the ground. Placing Green safely on his feet, White grabbed his partner's weapon and charged at Tenten who twirled her bo-staff as she blocked a blow from White who broke her bo-staff in half. "Hey! That was autographed by Chun Lee!!"yelled Tenten as she dropped the broken pieces on the ground. Rock Lee ran at Green and gave him a leg sweep. Green back flipped and landed on all fours before launching himself forward at Lee.

Getting back to Red and Black, Black was up against Sakura and Shino. Black jumped back just as Sakura threw a punch at him. He extended his sharp, claw-like, nails and slashed at Sakura who ducked and managed to deliver an uppercut. Black flew backwards and was captured by Shino's bug swarm. Black struggled and gritted his teeth as he felt the bugs eating his chakra. Shino walked forward and was just about to remove the black hood when when Red grabbed Nejiand flung him at Shino knocking him away. Shino's bugs immediately scattered, releasing Black, who was caught by Red just before hitting the ground. Just then, a large thud was heard just as Blue and Grey rammed Ino's and Shikamaru's heads together. Shikamaru and Ino swayed a bit dizzily grabbing their heads in pain. Chouji appeared and knocked Blue and Grey away with one enlarged hand. Blue and Grey flipped themselves over and landed on all fours. Slowly they stood up. Team 10 quickly got into their formation, bracing themselves for an attack from Blue and Grey. Instead, Red and Black appeared in the air over their comrades and began spinning rapidly at Team 10. The team jumped out of the way just as the spinning black and red whirlwinds of doom drilled into the ground. "Hey, wait….." said Chouji.

"Wasn't that move…" said Ino in a queer voice.

Shikamaru nodded. "Yeah it is, that was Gatsuuga (Fang Over Fang), Kiba's signature move…" he said just as the dust cleared, revealing two silhouettes running at them.

(And we skip scenes here)

Sparks literally flew as Violet lifted up his shackles to block Asuma's chakra knives. Gold flipped over Asuma and his partner to land a kick on Kurenai who was coming up at Violet from behind with a kunai in hand. Kurenai flew into Kakashi who caught her bridal style. "Thanks for catching me Kakashi but you know you're not my type," joked Kurenai as Kakashi set her down.

"Funny," Kakashi replied sarcastically before leaping into the air to avoid getting pulverized by Violet's geta sandals. Kakashi began forming a few hand seals. _"Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu!!" _he yelled breathing flames at Violet who raised his foot high above his head and slammed it into the ground just as the fireball came into contact. The jounins shielded themselves from the explosion. The smoke cleared to reveal an earth wall protecting Violet. The wall crumbled to the ground in large boulders. Gold appeared next to Violet in an instant. At the same time, the two each flipped a boulder into the air with one foot effortlessly and sent it in the direction of the jounins. The two repeatedly kept sending boulder after boulder simultaneously making the jounins dodge for their life.

The other rouge ninjas paused in mid battle and looked in the direction of Violet and Gold and smirked. The Konoha 11 all gave looks of confusion. Red and Black catapulted themselves into the air and formed a few hand seals. Black sent a stream of fire down to earth at the first group of people in his line of vision followed by a series of fireballs by Red. Naruto's shadow clones yelled as they were incinerated by the flaming attack. "Guys!" yelled Naruto as positioned himself next to Rock Lee. Naruto growled. "Let's go Fuzzy-Brows!" he yelled.

"Yosh, Naruto, let's show them our own flame attack, THE FLAME OF YOUTH!!" exclaimed Rock Lee as he rushed with Naruto towards Red and Black. The two guys both launched flying kicks at their opponents who ducked underneath them struck them in the back, only to have them poof into smoke. The real duo appeared behind Red and Black punched them before they even had time to react. Red and Black flew a few feet back before retaliating with Fang over Fang. Naruto and Rock Lee yelled as the two tackled them. "Lee!" "Naruto!" Both Sakura and Tenten yelled at the same time. Suddenly both girls felt themselves getting yanked back by Neji as two golden oversized cat bells crashed into the ground where the two once stood. Blue gave the sash a jerk, pulling the two bells out of the ground and back into his hands. Doing a running leap into the air, Blue threw one of the bells at Neji and the two girls. The trio braced themselves for impact to realize that the bell flew past them into the awaiting hands of Grey, who immediately ran around in circles binding the three genins together with the sash before they had time to react. Blue landed gracefully on the ground next to Grey. Neji, Sakura and Tenten struggled with their bonds but to no avail. Blue and Grey linked hands with each other as they each held out a bell at arm's length, giving the trio one last smirk. The next thing that happened was a shocker, literally. Blue and Grey both sent bolts of static electricity through the sash like a cable and electrocuted the three genins, causing them to go limp but still remain conscious. Suddenly, Blue and Grey felt themselves getting jerked into the air by Shino's bug swarm.

With 5 genins down for the count, Green and White fended off the remaining genins before heading for the river. Standing on the surface of the water, the two both formed a series of complex hand seals before taking up stances that mirrored each other's perfectly. Team 10 looked on curiously but still prepared for an attack. Moving their arms in long, sweeping graceful moves, Team 10 watched in awe as the water from the river began to weave through the air following the movements of Green and White (A/N: Think water-bending). With a sudden forward thrust of the arms, the water came flying like bullets towards Shino who received full blast of the attack since he had both arms occupied. Due to the blast, Shino lost concentration for a moment giving time for Blue and Grey to slip away. At that moment, Green and White both clenched their fists and pulled in towards their chest. The water bullets suddenly made a U-turn and headed straight for team 10 grazing their sides just enough to make them flinch in pain. Green and White both relaxed their arms and walked towards the riverbank just as the others joined them. They all stood in single file waiting patiently for the Konoha ninjas to regroup.

The beat up ninjas stood before the rogue ninjas, both teams panting heavily. Suddenly, Violet took out a scroll from underneath his cloak and threw it into the air, causing it to unravel. Smoke erupted from the scroll and swirled towards the ground. Everybody coughed as the smoke began to clear revealing two figures which turned out to be- "TSUNADE-SAMA!!" everybody yelled in shock. (A/n: What they said…)

* * *


	7. The Intro!

**Chapter 7: The Intro!**

(Where we left off)

"TSUNADE-SAMA??" yelled the Konoha ninjas in shock (jounins included).

Tsunade grinned and lifted up a hand. "Konnichiwa, minna-san!" she said cheerfully.

"Tsunade-obaasan, what's the meaning of this? Those rogue jerks are right there behind you!" exclaimed Naruto jabbing a finger at the said people.

Tsunade smiled. "I know Naruto, I know. You are right about that, but these guys aren't really rogue nins."

Everybody gave the Lady Hokage looks of confusion. Tsunade placed a hand on her hip. "Remember when I told you we had to postpone the meeting of the new team?" Everyone nodded in reply. "Well, here's you're chance to meet them!" she said.

"NANIIIIIIII??"

With a snap of Tsunade's fingers, Kiba and Hinata opened their eyes and stood up with their binds falling off easily. Kiba helped Akamaru remove his muzzle and lifted him out off the bag. At the same time, those who wore the bright, technicolor cloaks flung them into the air while the ones in the less colorful cloaks, including the gold colored one puffed into smoke. Everybody's eyes immediately popped out of their skulls when they saw the true identities of the 'rogue ninjas'. "WHAT THE FREAKIN' HELL?? YOU GUYS ARE GIRLS??" yelled Naruto, Sakura, Team 10, Team 9 and the jounins.

The group of females that stood in front of them smiled. Standing on the far right stood a girl with dark brown eyes, shoulder length bright red hair and a black Konoha headband tied around her forehead. Her face had a tomboyish look to it. The girl gave a grin, revealing a pair of pearly white fangs. On her head was a little black female kitten the same size as Akamaru with eyes the same shade of red as her master's hair. The girl standing to the left of the red head had identical facial features except she had longer deep blue hair held up in a ponytail with a grey hair clip and the smile she gave was rather mysterious. Like the girl before she had a grey Konoha headband tied around her forehead. On her head was a grey kitten with blue eyes. The next girl however had again the same features but this time with short bright green hair held back with a black hair band. Unlike the first two, she wore a white Konoha headband around her neck. Her expression was somewhat unusually cheerful and sunny as if there was nothing wrong in the world. The green eyed white kitten on her head wore the same expression. The last one was an extremely stunning young woman in her early 20s with long slightly reddish purple hair and a very monotone smile on her face. She wore her black Konoha headband as a hair band. Standing next to her was a large cougar.

The red head girl placed a hand on here hip. "Correction, girls and felines."

"Everybody, I want you to meet Konoha's newest addition, Team 11," introduced Tsunade. Everybody's eyes popped open. "Girls, introduce yourselves."

"All right!" exclaimed the redhead. "Wassup? I'm Hikari Nekojiwa, first born of the Nekojiwa triplets and this is my best buddy, Katon no Akane. "

"Hiya!" exclaimed Akane lifting up a paw.

"My name is Kaori Nekojiwa, second born of the Nekojiwa triplets, and this my dear friend, Kage no Yue," said the blue haired girl.

"Greetings," said Yue in a misty voice, bowing her head.

The one in green beamed at them. "Hi, I'm Cori Nekojiwa, third born of the Nekojiwa triplets, and this little cutie here is Suiton no Jubei."

"KonnichiNya!"(A/N: Jubei's cute way of saying konnichiwa)

"And I'm Zakuro Nekojiwa, oldest sister and recently promoted jounin instructor of Team 11," said the young woman.

"And this is Doton no Tsuchi," she added, gesturing to the cougar.

"Yo…" the big cat said.

Suddenly, some romantic saxophone music began playing in Maito Gai's ears as the whole world became unknown to him. The air grew sparkly as Gai's eyes scanned Zakuro from bottom to top while his heart beat increased tenfold. _'S- so lovely…'_ so thought Gai as a faint blush crept on to his cheeks. (R.F.: Somehow, that is not a good sign……..)

Tsunade gave a small cough as she caught everyone's attention. "As you have all realized by now, this was actually an initiation test to see if they were worthy of becoming Konoha's kunoichi."

"You mean the whole kidnapping thing was a fake?" asked Tenten, folding her arms.

Tsunade, the sisters, cats, Shizune, Tonton, Kiba, Akamaru and Hinata who had just joined up with the group, all nodded.

"And the part where we all got ambushed was all planned?" asked Shikamaru. Again, answered with nods.

"They were supposed beat us as part of the test?" asked Chouji.

This time, nods turned into shaking of the heads. Question marks appeared above the Konoha ninjas' heads. _'Good, it_ _looks like they all haven't noticed it yet,'_ thought Tsunade. "Are you guys missing anything?" she asked suddenly.

Instinctively, everyone except those who were involved in the test began searching every single one of their pockets and pouches or any other hidden place where they hid their stuff on them. Suddenly, Naruto yelled in despair. "Aarrgh, the necklace Tsunade –baachan gave to me is missing!!"

Sakura gave a cry too. "Hey, where's my compact mirror and comb?"

"My bottle of my clan's special bug repellant is missing too!"

"One of my weapon scrolls is gone!"

"And my wallet!"

"MY EXTRA ROLL OF YOUTHFUL BANDAGES!!"

"My fruity hair conditioning cream!"

"Aww… man, how troublesome, my lucky shogi tile…."

"ARRRRGH!! My extra bag of Korean Barbeque Flavored potato chips I've been saving are gone!!"

(R.F.: Don't think even the jounins are spared. -Grins evilly-)

"Hey, my new packet of cigarettes is gone!"

"My new tube of lipstick is gone too!"

"MY YOUTHFUL BOTTLE OF TEETH WHITENER!!" Everybody quirked their eyebrows at him.

And finally… "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! MY LATEST ISSUE OF ICHA ICHA PARADISE IS GOOOOOOOOOONNE!!" (Raven's Familiar: You could say I left the best for last.)

A series of cheeky giggles erupted from Hikari, Cori, Akane and Jubei while Zakuro and Kaori as well as their feline companions smirked in obvious amusement. "Excuse me are these what you guys are looking for?" asked Cori sweetly, reaching into her pouch and taking out Tenten's weapon scroll, Neji's wallet, Lee's bandages in one hand and a pair of glasses which she put back on with her other hand. Neji quickly felt his back pocket for the pair he swiped earlier, it was still there. The moment Cori wore her extra pair of glasses and smiled sweetly, Lee stopped breathing for a moment as his pulse quickened and a blush came to his cheeks. '_K-kawaii!!'_

One by one, the girls began taking out the respective items they took. Hikari had Naruto's necklace hooked on her index finger and Sakura's compact mirror and comb set held in one hand and Shino's bug repellant in the other. Kaori held Ino's hair cream in her palm with Shikamaru's shogi tile and Choji's bag of chips between her fingers. Zakuro held Asuma's cigarettes, Kurenai's lipstick, and Gai's teeth whitener in one hand and held Kakashi's precious book in the other. Everybody's mouths excluding the sisters and Tsunade dropped open and hit the ground. _'That woman actually managed to swipe his/my book………….' _everybody thought in disbelief. Tsunade applauded. "Excellent girls, especially you Zakuro!"

Zakuro smirked and nodded.

"The Nekojiwa clan is specialized in retrieving items and gathering information among other things. One of their many talents is skilled pick pocketing. You see, the main goal of this initiation test Tsunade-sama set was to see how skilled they are at being pickpockets by swiping a valuable possession of yours," explained Kiba, slipping his hands into his pockets. Akamaru who decided to ride on Kiba's shoulder yapped.

"Th-the kidnapping story was just something Ts-tsunade-sama came up with to get you t-to g-go t-to the respective places where the sisters were all waiting to ambush you and wait for the chance to a-and take y-your items," continued Hinata.

Neji nodded in understanding. "Okay, so what's with the disguises?"

"We wanted to spice things up a little, plus we knew you all wouldn't take us seriously if you knew we were girls," replied Hikari.

"And cats!" added Akane.

"We don't really need this stuff, so here," said Kaori tossing the stuff she swiped back to Team 10. The others did the same.

"And that's that! You guys can go ahead and introduce yourselves to each other now, I'm going! Later days!" said Tsunade, as she, Shizune and Tonton poofed into smoke. Instantly Gai appeared in front of Zakuro grasping her hands in his. "GREETINGS ZAKURO-CHAN! I, MAITO GAI, THE FEROCIOUS BEAST OF KONOHA, WELCOME YOU TO KONOHA AS ONE OF US!!"

Zakuro stared blankly at her grasped hands and slowly looked up at the guy grasping them. She smiled sweetly. "Thank you, you can let go of my hands now you perverted sempai."

'_Perverted?! Wait, that means…, back then…'_ Suddenly Gai had a sudden flashback in his mind. His mind rewinded back to when he used the Front Lotus technique on Violet a.k.a. Zakuro. (R.F.: Remember when I wrote that he clutched at something big?)

Gai immediately hardened up into stone when he realized what he just grabbed back there. Slowly, he removed his hands. Dark aura and killing intent began radiating of Zakuro. Everybody instinctively backed off. Zakuro narrowed her eyes into slits. "So you remember…." growled Zakuro. "GO TO HELL YOU GAUDY, BUSHY BROWED, DISGUSTING SEMPAI!!" she yelled, kicking him into orbit, literally.

"Whoa that's high!" exclaimed all the genin.

The triplets all whipped out signboards that had the numbers 100 written on each of them. "And he is out!" they all said in unison.

"Far out!" added the kittens.

Asuma smirked. "Oh I like her, I like her," said Asuma as he lit a fresh cigarette.

Kurenai folded her arms and smirked. "I'm just upset it wasn't me…."

"My precious…" whispered Kakashi as he rubbed his face against his book. (R.F.: -sweat drops- Freak……)

* * *

Later that afternoon as all the teams began to head for home Neji suddenly remembered the glasses in his back pocket. He took them out and looked at them. _'I guess I better go back and return them to her,' _thought Neji as he walked back in the direction of the forest. As he neared the spot where his team fought their opponents, he saw Jubei not far off sniffing the ground. Cori was just a few meters away on her hands and knees searching the grass for something. "Have you found anything yet Jubei?" Cori called out.

"Nuh-uh!" was the reply.

Neji suddenly stepped on a twig, causing it to snap. Cori turned to the direction of the sound. "Oh, Neji-senpai!" exclaimed Cori, standing up and brushing the dirt of her clothes while blushing in embarrassment. "Y-you startled me, what brings you here?"

Neji held out the glasses. "Here, these must be what you're looking for."

Cori smiled and took her glasses back. "Thank you sempai, you're a dear!" she said gratefully smiling at Neji.

Suddenly the atmosphere became all sparkly. Neji's breath got caught in his throat as he blushed and quickly turned around. "You're welcome, I'm sorry I didn't return them sooner," he said, quickly jumping into the trees.

Jubei jumped onto Cori's shoulder. "Well, he seems nice doesn't he Cori-sama?"

Cori smiled as she stroked Jubei's head. "Indeed, a cold character but nice."

* * *

"We're home!" called Hikari and Akane, followed by Kiba, Akamaru, and the rest of the Nekojiwa siblings and familiars.

Suddenly, Shouta came raining down from the ceiling. "HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIKAAARIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!! WELCOME H-" Shouta's greeting was cut as the others side stepped out of the way. "Straight up," said Hikari as she raised her fist high above her head, connecting it with her father's stomach. Her face was expressionless. "Don't you ever do that to me again dad," she said with a voice dripping with pure anger as she let her father drop to the floor. "Tekagi!" she called sharply. Her father's lion appeared instantly, Hikari turned to him. "Take my dad to mom would you?"

"Hai, Hikari-sama" said Tekagi, bowing before gripping Shouta's clothes between his teeth and dragged him down the hallway.

"If anybody wants me I'll be on the roof," she said with her eyes shadowed as she made her way upstairs. Akane quickly bounded after Hikari.

Everyone else stood at the entrance silently. "So she's sill bitter about the engagement, huh?" asked Zakuro, leaning against the doorframe.

"Most definitely…"answered Tsuchi.

"Dad has really done it now….." muttered Kaori placing a hand to her forehead. Yue nodded in agreement.

"Oh, father/Shouta-sama…" sighed Cori and Jubei.

Akamaru whined as he looked at his master. Kiba looked straight in the direction where Hikari went. _'Hikari…'_

* * *

Hikari's long red hair flowed in the wind as she took of her black Konoha headband. She stared blankly at the symbol onthe metal plate. Akane sat on the roof next to her master looking up at Hikari. She placed a paw on Hikari's hand causing Hikari to look at her. Akane gave her a cat-like smile. Hikari smiled back and stroked Akane's head. "What are you doing Kiba?" she asked all of a sudden.

Kiba and Akamaru nearly fell of the roof in shock. He quickly regained his balance and wore a serious expression on his face.

"Go away..." muttered Hikari, not looking once at Kiba.

The boy coughed once. "Look, I hate this as much as you do but there's nothing we can do about it. The engagement is already made official by the clan heads," he said folding his arms.

Hikari propped her chin on her knees and sighed. "Tell me something, I don't know….."

"Okay," said Kiba sitting down next to Hikari, putting Akamaru next to Akane. "When I first got Akamaru, he decided to make friends by marking his territory on my face."

Akane looked at Akamaru disgustedly and shifted two steps away from the pup. Akamaru blushed a little while sweat dropping and rubbing a paw behind his furry little head. Hikari giggled, making Kiba smile. "Feeling better?"

Hikari nodded." Okay, I guess I'm being a little immature about this but it's hard getting use to all these changes…"

"Hey, I feel ya', this whole engagement thing gets to me too."

Hikari lifted up her head and looked at Kiba and smiled. "I've been thinking, we're gonna be living together for some time now and we kinda got off on the wrong foot so how about it, truce?" Hikari asked lifting up a pinky.

"Truce," said Kiba locking pinkies with her. " Provided we don't tell anyone about this."

Hikari pulled the zipper on her mouth. "Hey, my lips are sealed, but just because we're on friends now it doesn't mean I'll acknowledge the fact that you are my fiancé, got it?"

Kiba smirked and nodded. Hikari smiled back at him. Akane and Akamaru looked at the two preteens back and forth, turned to each other and hi-pawed each other silently

* * *

R.F.: Okay, Chp 7 is up!! By the way, if you want to take a look at how the triplets look like come and take a look at my profile. I'm afraid they're not very good but it's the best I could do. Ja Ne!


	8. Special Corner: Nekojiwa Profiles!

**NEKOJIWA SPECIAL CORNER!!!!!! START!!!!**

R.F: OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOOO…….! (Appears out of the ground on a rotating platform running on a high powered motor with flamethrowers holding a mic and wearing a light blue version of Raven's costume.) (R.F lowers her hood as a pair of brownish black cat ears pops up from her hair as well as a fluffy tail of the same coloring pops out from behind.)

Crowd: (applauses)

R.F. : NYA HOO!! I'm Raven's Familiar and this is a special segment of my fanfic where I would answer everything ya'all wanna know about the triplets and their clan!

Crowd: (cheers even louder)

R.F. : Alrighty then! Now let's start our very first segment by a special introduction of the Nekojiwa family! (whips out an envelope from underneath cloak and removes an A4 size glossy photo from it) And for our first introduction, we'll begin with Hikari Nekojiwa and Katon no Akane!

* * *

(Projector screen appears behind R.F. with information about Hikari and Akane.)

**Hikari Nekojiwa, 12 yrs old**

**Introduction Line: The Shinobi World's Most Fiery Red Head, Nekojiwa Hikari!  
**

**Nicknames: Hikari-kun (by Kiba), Hikari-chan, (almost everybody), Hikari-neechan (by Kaori & Cori), Hikari-sama (by Akane, Yue &Jubei)**

**Born: 31st July**

**Ninja Rank: Genin**

**Heavy Weapon: Flaming Cutter (a giant boomerang)**

**Close Combat Weapon: Cat Bell Kusarigama**

**Agility Weapon: Hikari Clubs (the kind used in rhythmic gymnastics)**

**Role: Team leader for Team Neko**

**Astrological sign: Leo**

**Favorite color: Scarlet**

**Element Affinity: Fire  
**

**Position in Family: Oldest Nekojiwa triplet**

**Marital Status: Single/ Engaged (to Kiba Inuzuka, more details revealed in later chapters)**

**Relatives: One older sister (Zakuro), two younger sisters (Kaori and Cori), a mother (Fuu Tomoyo) and a father (Shouta)**

**Familiar: Katon no Akane (Akane of the Flames)**

**Personality: Hot tempered, brave, cheeky, animalistic behavior at times, tomboyish, scheming, can get slightly evil at times, violent yet shows a gentle side from time to time, confident, independent, polite and respectful to certain people…**

**Catchphrase (s): "I'm gonna annihilate you! NYA!" (when angry), "Hanyaa…..", "DIE YOU!!"**

**Laugh: puts hand to the side of face "NYAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…….!"**

**Side notes: Despite being bitter about the engagement between her and Kiba, she does care about him and actually considers herself to be quite close to him as a best friend. She also appears slightly to be the jealous type as she occasionally reminds Kiba about their engagement. Hikari also cares for Akamaru as much as she cares about Akane. When she is angry she tends to act like a cat (e.g. hissing, doing cat growls, clawing, going Nya!). She also tends to bite her opponents in fights.

* * *

**

**Katon no Akane**

**Born: 31st July**

**Breed: Mixbred, part cat, part panther**

**Type: Nin-cat ( or kitten)**

**Owner: Hikari Nekojiwa**

**Personality: Similar to Hikari's, except she is more rational. Shares a strong friendship with Hikari, Kiba and Akamaru, has a very sisterly relationship with Yue and Jubei.

* * *

**

R.F. : Don't worry, there's more to come! Ja Ne, Minna-san! OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!! (disappears into the ground on rotating platform)


	9. Challenge with Team 9

**CHAPTER 8: Challenge with Team 9!**

"_Lee-senpai!" a familiar female voice called out softly._

_Rock Lee slowly opened his eyes to find himself in sparkly field of flowers in every color. Lee's eyes widened as he gaped at the beautiful scenery around him._

"_Lee-senpai!"_

_Lee turned around to find Cori standing at a distance, amidst the flowers wearing a simple dark green summer kimono with a white sash, smiling serenely at him. "C-cori…-chan…" stuttered Rock Lee._

_Cori smiled at him as she held out her hand to him. "Lee-senpai!" she called._

_Lee eyes grew big and sparkly. "Cori-chan!"_

_"Lee-kun!" another voice called out suddenly._

_Lee turned around to see Sakura wearing a similar kimono, only red in colour with a pink sash. Sakura gave him an angelic smile holding her hand out to him._

_Lee stood confused as he swiveled his head from left to right, unsure of which girl to go to._

_"Lee-kun!" "Lee-senpai!" "Lee-kun!" Lee-senpai!" "LEE-KUN!" LEE-SENPAI!"  
_

……………………

_BRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNGGGGG!!_

"Whaaaaaaa!!" yelled Lee in shock as he shot out of bed and did a cheesy praying mantis stance like out of a badly dubbed kung fu movie. Realizing, it was all a dream, Lee relaxed and sighed . Lee lay down on his bed and stared at ceiling which was covered with pictures of Sakura. _'Usually it was only Sakura-san, why did Cori-chan appear in my dream as well?'_

"Wait!" said Lee suddenly, shooting into a sit up position. "AM I A BEING A TWO-TIMER??" he yelled grabbing his head.

* * *

(At the Inuzuka compound)

Cori let out a big sneeze as she woke up. "I hope I'm not getting a cold today," she said as she reached for her glasses on the bedside table. She looked beside her to find the whole bed empty. Jubei yawned sleepily as she awoke in Cori's lap. "Ohayo, Cori-sama…" she said, rubbing her face with her paw. Cori smiled at her little kitten as she scratched Jubei between the ears. Jubei purred in content. Suddenly a clash of metal was heard, capturing the attention of Cori and Jubei instantly. Cradling Jubei in her arms, Cori slipped out of bed and walked towards the window. The window showed a full view of the Inuzuka fighting ground, where a red and gray blur clashed with each other repeatedly.

Down at the fighting grounds, Kiba quickly leapt over Hikari as she made a dive at him. Hikari landed on all fours, turned and pounced again at Kiba who was left vulnerable in mid air. Kiba crossed his arms to shield himself as he braced for impact. Suddenly, Akamaru appeared as a beast clone and pulled his master out of the way in time. At the same time Akane appeared as a black clad and a black haired version of Hikari above Akamaru and purposely dropped on Akamaru's back. "Akamaru!" yelled Kiba as he landed on the ground and launched himself at ground under Akamaru and Akane. The two beast clones landed on Kiba hard, a little too hard unfortunately. The impact resulted in dust flying everywhere. When the dust cleared, Kiba lay on the ground all swirly eyed with half his air supply knocked out of him. Akamaru, had changed back on impact was sprawled on his master's stomach wearing the same expression. Only Akane, who had also changed back and was at the top of the pile the whole time, stood on her hind legs with one foot over Akamaru's back ginning triumphantly as she jabbed a paw in the air. "Nya-ha! Victory is mine!! NYAHAHAHAA!!"

"Akane."

"Hai? Hikari-sama?" replied Akane as she looked over at Hikari only to stop grinning when she saw the mark of annoyance pulsating on the girl's forehead.

"We're supposed to do this together..." said Hikari through gritted teeth. Akane sweat dropped as she chuckled nervously.

"But.."

"HAI?!" Akane said going a little tense.

"GOOD JOB!!"exclaimed Hikari as she gave her kitten a thumbs up and a grin. Akane did the same thing.

"Ugh, talk about take my breath away..." groaned Kiba as he sat up. "Awor..." agreed Akamaru, sprawled on Kiba's lap. At that moment, a gust of wind came and blew Kiba's hood off. Since Kiba wasn't exactly wearing a headband, his dark brown hair swept gently over his face.

Hikari's breath got caught in her throat and her eyes widened a little as she saw this. A slight blush appeared on her cheeks. "Hikari-sama? Are you okay? You seem flushed," asked Akane as she patted her master's cheek. Hikari quickly shook her head."Me? Of course I'm okay! I'm feeling a little hot from sparring that's all!" she replied as she reached for the rubberband that held her long red hair in a braid.

Now it was Kiba's turn to blush a little as he watched Hikari shake her hair loose from the braid as she removed the rubberband. Her long red hair fell gracefully behind Hikari. Suddenly, she noticed Kiba staring at her. "What are you looking at Kiba?" she snapped.

Kiba snapped back to reality as he grabbed Akamaru and a shot up straight. "Nothing..." he muttered walking back into the house. As he walked past the living room, he saw Kaori lying on her stomach on the couch doing a Sudoku puzzle book. Next to her were two piles of other Sudoku puzzle books. One pile taller than the other. Yue was asleep of course, on the armrest the couch.

"So how did the sparring session go?" asked Kaori without even looking up.

"Alright, I guess," answered Kiba, flopping onto the second couch and closed his eyes for a moment. Akamaru leapt onto Kiba's stomach, yawned and lay down. All of a sudden, thumping of steps was heard coming towards the room. Cori face appeared through the doorway with Jubei on her head.

"Kaori-neechan, Onee-sama just summoned us to the training field behind the academy, come on!" called Cori cheerfully.

"Hurry! Hurry!" piped up Jubei as she and Cori ran ahead with Hikari and Akane coming up from behind them.

Yue opened one eye sleepily. "Hmph, how noisy..." she commented.

"Utterly inexcusable..." agreed Kaori getting up as Yue stretched and leapt onto Kaori's shoulder.

"Have a nice day..." said Kiba sleepily before giving a big yawn and falling asleep like Akamaru.

As he heard the girls leave, Kiba popped open one eye to look at the two piles of Sudoku books. His eye noticed a slip of paper sticking out from one of the top books from the taller pile. What was stranger is that it had his name on it. Curious, he took the paper and read it. "_Dear Kiba, you are welcome to indulge yourself in my Sudoku collection, you can look at the books I've already done for help,_ signed, Kaori," read Kiba out loud. Shrugging, Kiba reached for the small stack of books. 'I guess I can humor myself a little...' he thought as he opened the first book only to find it empty. Another piece of paper fluttered to the ground. Picking it up, Kiba read, "_I__f you are looking in this pile for reference I suggest you look at the taller pile which I've been doing for the past hour..." _Kiba's voice trailed off as he looked at the taller pile which was at eye-level with him. "What the hell...?"

* * *

"All right! I'm all fired up and ready for action!!" yelled Hikari excitedly as she did warm up exercises. "YEAH!" agreed Akane, standing up on her hind legs and joining in on the warm up session. The sisters stood in an open field by a forest area.

"Tch, how noisy..." muttered Yue and Kaori at the same time.

Cori and Jubei merely smiled and turned to her oldest sister a.k.a jounin instructor. "Zakuro-oneesama, whose team did you say was willing to spar with us again?" she asked sweetly.

"ZAKURO-CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!"

Zakuro and Tsuchi groaned and rolled their eyes in disdain. "Take a wild guess..." they both said bluntly.

Maito Gai came running up from the distance with a dust. "_**ZAKURO-CHAN MY SWEET, BEATUIFUL, YOUTHFUL GODDESS!! YOUR DIVINE****, YOUTHFUL LOVER HAS ARRIVED!!**_"yelled Gai as he came dashing towards Zakuro, flinging his arms open. Gai then leapt into air and threw himself at Zakuro. _**"OH, MY SWEET HO**_-**_"_** he yelled before getting cut off by Zakuro who lifted her foot parallel to her body and connected her geta sandal with Gai's face.

"Hello, Gai-senpai..." Zakuro said bluntly, taking her foot of her senior's face, revealing the peg marks from the bottom of her sandal and taking about 8 steps back.

Gai regained his composure and coughed. "Anyway, I am here to accept your youthful challenge of having your team sparring against my own youthful students!"

Zakuro said nothing but just glanced over Gai's shoulder. "I assume that's them?" she asked, pointing to the large dust cloud coming up from the distance.

Just at that moment the dust cloud screeched to a stop by the triplets. The girls and their partners coughed loudly as the dust began to clear. "Alright! I'm the second to reach! YEAH!" yelled an extremely loud voice.

"(pant!) Lee, this wasn't a race to begin with!" yelled a second voice which appeared to be female.

"Tenten's right you know!" agreed another male voice.

The dust finally cleared to reveal the whole of Team 9.

"Right as always Zakuro-sama," said Tsuchi, catching the attention of the team.

"Hey, you're that giant talking kitty!," exclaimed Lee in surprise.

"Yeah! Sushi, was it?" asked Tenten.

Tsuchi fell face first to the floor in disbelief. "MY NAME IS TSUCHI!! AND I'M A COUGAR GODDAMMIT!!"

Lee and Tenten flinched. Cori and Jubei laughed in amusement. "You have to excuse Tsuchi, she's a little sensitive about that."

Neji, Kaori and Yue rolled their eyes. Zakuro cleared her throat to grab everyone's attention. "Follow me," she said, walking towards the forest area.

"Anywhere my darling!" said Gai as he followed Zakuro like some lovesick puppy.

As the others trailed behind, Hikari leaned over to Tenten. "Your sensei is one weeiird dude..."

"Pity me..." replied Tenten.

Very soon the group reached a clearing in the woods. Zakuro turned to face the others with Tsuchi curling round her legs. "Alright, it is now I'll announce my challenge. This whole forest is our battleground. The challenge is a simple game of Predator and Prey, Predator takes down it's Prey and brings he or she to this very spot," she said throwing down a kunai to mark the place. There's no time limit, it all ends when we have finally met up again, any questions?"

Gai raised his hand. "From the **genin**," emphasized Zakuro. Her senior immediately put down his hand.

Rock Lee raised his hand. "Who are the Predators and Prey?"

Zakuro and Tsuchi smiled. "It's your choice..." they both said mysteriously before jumping into the air and disappearing into the trees, leaving Team 9 confused.

Everyone turned to the triplets who just shrugged casually.

"Our sister works in strange ways.." said Hikari, disappearing in a single leap into the trees with Akane closely behind.

"It's her way of saying ready, set, Go!"added Cori and Jubei, bolting past Team 9, laughing happily.

Kaori and Yue remained. "A word of advice from my master..." said Yue.

"If you any of you faces Hikari, I recommend you guys to try and keep away from hers and Akane's mouths..." Kaori said, fading slowly into the shadows behind her with Yue on her shoulder. Their eyes glowing a brilliant blue as they vanished. _"Good luck!" _hervoice rang out hauntingly.

"Spoo-ky..." muttered Tenten.

**"MY GODDESS I'M COMING FOR YOU!!"** yelled Gai, running in his beloved's direction. Everyone else sweat dropped.

"Well I'm off to be the Predator!" announced Rock Lee speeding off.

"Me, too!" agreed Tenten going off in another random direction.

Neji remained standing in the middle off the clearing. All of a sudden, some of the leaves nearby rustled even though there was no wind. This was followed the clear sound of bells ringing that pierced through Neji's mind.

* * *

R.F:Aaaaaaaand I'm done! See you for the next one!

* * *


	10. Predator or Prey? Take your pick!

**Chapter 9: The Predator or Prey? Take your pick!**

The sound of bells rang clearly throughout the forest. It's clear, pure piercing sound vibrated in the air and into Neji's mind. Not to far away Neji's other two teammates as well as Gai heard the piercing bell ringing in the air. Leaves rustled individually with each ring. Suddenly, there was a sound of wind whipping through the trees as a shadowy figure darted from tree to tree in the area around Neji. Neji quickly turned around but saw no one. So, being the Hyuuga he is, Neji did the most logical thing any of his clan members would do. _"Byakugan!" _he said, activating his kekkei genkai.

Neji's view on the world around him changed, literally. His vision soared through the woods, searching for his targets. His eyes found 10 other figures, 7of which, are humans while the other 3 are animals. He distinguished the first three as teammates and sensei, which meant the others were to be his prey. "Enjoying the view?" asked a familiar voice.

Neji quickly turned off his bloodline limit and spun around to face the owner of the voice. Kaori sat on a high branch in a tree with Yue curled around her neck. With the others, the same thing occurred. With Gai, found himself near a river was met up with Zakuro and Tsuchi who stepped out from behind a boulder (much to his delight). With Tenten, Hikari and Akane appeared leaning against a tree trunk and Rock Lee found himself being looked down on literally by Cori and Jubei who stood on top of a tree branch.

* * *

(Zakuro)

"It's time to choose..."

* * *

(Hikari)

"Are you the Predator or The Prey?"

* * *

(Kaori)

"Who knows who will win or who will lose..."

* * *

(Cori)

"We'll find out for sure either way..."

* * *

(Tsuchi)

"No matter what choice is yours..."

* * *

(Akane)

"How you fight will decide anyway..."

* * *

(Yue)

"After all, even if you choose to be the Predator..."

* * *

(Jubei)

"Will the Prey still be prey?"

* * *

The words rang through the other team's heads. Neji smiled confidently as he looked at Kaori straight in the eye. "I'm sure you know perfectly well what my answer will be," he said.

Kaori returned the smile. "Well then, don't let me get away senpai," she replied as she stood up and leaped of the branch towards the ground and was about to make a run for it when Neji quickly threw a kunai at her. The kunai was able to successfully pin her sleeve to a tree trunk. Neji quickly caught up to Kaori just as she was trying to pull the weapon out.

"Don't tell me you lost easily," said Neji as he prepared to strike a pressure point on the girl.

"Not. Quite, "came a reply.

Suddenly, Yue emerged from Kaori's hood and swung a paw at the Hyuuga with such force that Neji actually was blown back. Neji felt something warm and sticky trickling down his cheek. It only meant one thing, blood. Kaori finally manged to pull free and began to run at full speed up a tree on all fours like a cat with Yue at her side. Not willing to give up, Neji followed suit. The two kept climbing higher and higher until they finally reached the top of the tree. The wind whipped around them as they stood on the same branch,staring at each other. From where they stood, it meant one slip and plunge 8 storeys down. (Yeah, it's a tall tree.) Unfortunately for Kaori and Yue, they were standing at the very end of the branch. Neji carefully inched his way across the he did, Kaori asked, "Senpai, do you know what's the best thing to do when you're cornered and your only escape route is a sheer drop to doom?"

"What?"

"You take that route," replied Yue, and with that, her master leaned back and let herself fall headfirst towards the ground, taking Neji by surprise.

Not wasting any time, Neji applied chakra to his feet and began bounding down the tree trunk as fast as he could. With a combination of his speed and gravity, Neji was miraculously able to overtake Kaori. Quickly, he launched himself of the tree, aiming himself at Kaori. At the same time, Kaori whipped out a blue scroll while biting her thumb. In one swift move, the Nekojiwa girl unrolled the scroll and smeared her blood on the surface. There was a puff of smoke and a long blue gymnastics ribbon appeared in Kaori's hand. Yue pushed herself of her mistress and landed on a nearby branch. As the distance between Kaori and Neji grew smaller, the blue haired girl twisted her body in mid air and leaped of Neji when he appeared below her. Kaori quickly turned around in the air and lashed her ribbon out, grabbing Neji by the arm. With one swift tug, Neji found himself being pulled towards Kaori, who delivered a round house kick at him, despite putting up a hand to block, the boy was sent flying towards the ground again. Thankfully for Neji, the ground wasn't far enough to kill him, but he still hit the ground hard.

_"Agility weapon: Kaori Ribbon!" _said Kaori as she managed to land on her feet, twirling her ribbon as she did so. No sooner did her feet touch the ground, Kaori felt her left leg give way, causing her to sink towards the ground. She tried moving it, but there was no feeling in her leg. "Kaori-sama!" yelled Yue appearing at the girl's side.

"I'm all right, but my leg.."

"Heh, don't even try..." said Neji smirking as he stood up.

Yue leapt in front of Kaori as hissed at Neji. "What did you do to my mistress?" she snarled menacingly.

Neji smirked. "Nothing really..., I just shut down the signals that her brain sends to control her left leg movement."

Yue felt a growl develop in her throat as her pupils slitted. _"Catgirl jutsu!" _she yelled, disappearing in a puff of smoke. In her place, stood a girl around Kaori's age with silver hair tied in a loose ponytail. She also had a pair of azure eyes that just pierced Neji's and sent chills down his spine. What most noticeble was the pair of cat ears that stuck out of her head, that and the tail, plus the cat paws... **(See: Catgirl Yue)**

Yue snarled as she dropped on all fours. Neji quickly became serious and slid into his Jyuuken stance. Yue charged forward and pounced on Neji, claws extended. Neji quickly activated Byakugan and grabbed Yue's paw, letting her graze his side as he spun around and jabbed an elbow in her back. The cat girl tumbled once but was back on her feet in seconds as she leapt at Neji again, her flashing the same time, Kaori smirked to herself as the sound of a camera shutter clicking went off in her head.

* * *

Meanwhile, in another part of the woods by the river...

"Haik! Cha!" yelled Zakuro as she blocked Gai's blows with her legs.

"Hiya!"Gai spun around on one foot and began sending a flurry of kicks at Zakuro so quickly that it was all blurry. "Ha!" exclaimed Zakuro as she mimicked her senior's movements , matching every kick for kick with the exact same speed.

'Amazing, this guy is actually able to match me in speed, no one's ever done that before,' thought Zakuro as she increased the speed of her kicks. As she expected, Gai increased his sped too, matching her perfectly.

Suddenly Gai heard growling behind him as Tsuchi began to aim for the leg that Gai was standing on. Quickly, Gai turned around, grabbing Zakuro's foot, much to her surprise and landing a kick on Tsuchi's head sending her flying towards the river. Tsuchi quickly spun in mid air and landed on all fours on the surface of the river. Zakuro quickly bent backwards into a handstand, spreading her legs apart into a split with her foot still being clutched in Gai's hand. _"Seismic Spin!" _she yelled, twisting her body and spinning on her hands. Gai found himself getting wrenched of the ground and spun about faster and faster. All of a sudden, Zakuro came to an unexpected stop, catching her senior off guard causing him to lose his grip and go spiralling off in the air. Not wanting to miss out on anything, Tsuchi powered chakra into her already powerful legs and jumped. She appeared just in front of Gai, and turned her back on him literally, smacking him hard with her tail with such force that Gai was sent crashing into the ground. Tsuchi landed next to Zakuro as she cracked her neck.

"Well, that was a quick win wasn't it?" asked Tsuchi. Before Zakuro can answer, they saw a silhouette rise from the spot where Gai landed.

"You've got to be kidding me....."muttered Zakuro as the dust cleared revealing a very serious Gai.

In about a split second, Gai was right in front of her, which surprised Zakuro so much that she let her guard down.

"Nekojiwa Zakuro!"he exclaimed.

In one swift move, Gai used his right leg to literally sweep Zakuro off her feet. The young woman felt herself fall backwards as she quickly reached out and put her arms around Gai's neck to stop herself from falling while Gai caught Zakuro in his arms, forcing her to be in laid back position. (A very common move in tango and salsa). Tsuchi fluffed up her fur in surprise.

"Hai?" asked Zakuro, looking up at her seniors face. Suddenly, a ruby red rose in full bloom appeared in front of her face, it's scent filled her nose as the atmosphere around her and Gai began to sparkle and romantic music began to play.

"I want you as my beloved youthful companion for life, will you marry me?" he asked **(R.F.: Demanded is more like it....)**, causing Tsuchi to arch her her back and hiss menacingly in shock.

A faint blush appeared on Zakuro's cheeks as she stared into Gai's eyes. _"Oh,Gai-senpai...." _she whispered softly, tightening her grasp around Gai's neck, bringing her body higher and her face slightly closer._  
_

Gai felt color rush to his cheeks as well as he brought his face closer to hers. His heart beat began to quicken._"Zakuro-chan...."_

Zakuro's face came even closer._"Gai-senpai..." _she whispered again with a hint of sexiness to it._  
_

_"Zakuro-chan...."_replied Gai again as he to brought his face closer to hers._  
_

Tsuchi was already freaking out as her jaw hit the ground.

By now their lips were merely inches apart from each other as Zakuro big brown eyes stared into Gai's own. _"Gai....senpai..." _she whispered once more, and then...

**"LIKE HELL I WOULD!!!!!!!!!!"** she yelled, ramming her knee against her senior's.... ahem... well, you get the idea....

Tsuchi flinched while Zakuro slid out of her senior's grasp. Gai was on the ground keeled over while holding the family jewels.

The young women was emitting so much fury and killer intent that Tsuchi shrunk into the background. Her eyes dilated into slits as she lashed a kick at Gai's chin, causing him to fall on his back. Zakuro was standing over him looking more ferocious than anyone could have been. **"HENTAIIII!!!!!!! ECCHIIII!!!!! PERVERT!!!!!!" **she yelled as she sent a flurry of stomps raining down on Gai, pummelling him into the ground. Tsuchi stood on the sidelines as she watched her master stomp the hell out of her senior. She then shrugged and lay down. 'Guess she doesn't need me...' she thought as she went to sleep while poor Gai was getting turned into mush.

* * *

Tenten continuously jumped backwards to avoid getting hit from Hikari's fireballs. After dodging the last one, Tenten pulled a few senbon needles that were concealed in her hair buns. "Take this!" she yelled, throwing them at Hikari.

Hikari merely grinned. "With pleasure, Akane!" she called.

A black blur appeared as it leapt at the flying needles, which disappeared in mid air. "What?"exclaimed Tenten in disbelief.

Akane turned around to reveal the needles in her mouth. She then leaped into the air and spat them out of her mouth at Tenten who quickly summoned a pair of tonfas and spun them in her hands to deflect the projectiles. Akane somersaulted in the air and landed on Hikari's shoulder just as she summoned her own weapon out of a green scroll. Tenten watched as Hikari twirled her weapons in her hands and went into a fighting stance. _"Agility Weapon: Hikari Clubs!"_ she exclaimed, revealing her weapon to be a pair of gymnastic clubs.

Suddenly both girls began charging at each other crying their battle cries with all their spirit.

* * *

**Poof! **A white cheerleading baton appeared in Cori's hand._ "Agility Weapon: Cori Baton!"_ she exclaimed, twirling the baton expertly in her hand before striking a pose.

Rock Lee slipped into his battle stance as he swallowed. _'Gai-sensei, what should I do? I'm going to have to do battle with my precious person!'_

Meanwhile elsewhere......

**"DIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!..........."**cried Zakuro as she continued stomping the snot out of a nearly flattened Maito Gai.

Tsuchi stretched and rolled onto her back as she continued with her nap. "Oh, Cham-samaaa..... nyaaaaaaa....... you naughty kitty you!" she muttered in her sleep as she grinned and a slight blush appeared on her face while her right leg twitched in the air.

Back to the fight.....

"Jubei! Let's go!" called Cori as tossed Jubei who was sitting on her hand, into the air.

The little kitten somersaulted and took a deep breath. _"Ninja Art: Exploding Bubbles! -NYA!"_ she yelled, blowing out a stream of bubbles from her mouth.

As the bubbles began to float down gently, Cori began to twirl the baton in front of her, sending the bubbles flying in Lee's direction. Lee looked in confusion as he found himself surrounded in a mass of bubbles. Jubei landed on Cori's shoulder gracefully. "Time to go POP!- nya!" she piped up as her master smiled and snapped her fingers.

Suddenly, the seemingly harmless bubbles became a mass of small explosions. Lee yelled as he got blasted into the air. Cori and Jubei watched as he fell to the ground with a thud. The boy gritted his teeth as he stood back up again. Cori smirked as she ran at Lee, twirling her baton. Lee quickly resumed his stance as Cori came closer. Jubei leaped of her master's head and spiraled towards Lee, who dodged while at the same time using his arm to block Cori's baton from hitting his ribs. The kitten swiftly turned her body around and launched her self of the grass, successfully managing to head butt Lee in the stomach. At the same time, Cori spun around and did a roundhouse on Lee's back, sending him reeling forward. Lee quickly recovered and rushed at Cori. The girl took a step back as Lee swung his leg at her. He then quickly changed his move to a leg swipe. Suddenly, Jubei appeared and landed on Lee's leg, forcing it to the ground. Cori quickly swung her leg at Lee who dodged it by falling on his back. Lee quickly countered it by gripping the leg Cori was standing on. He then twisted his body so that she fell over sideways. Quickly, Cori stuck out her baton while gripping Lee's leg between hers and bringing herself into a single handstand as she balanced on the tip of the baton. With a quick twist of her body, the girl was able to send Lee flying.

_'Amazing!'_ thought Lee as flipped and landed on his feet._ 'She actually could counter all my attacks so smoothly!'_

Cori smiled innocently. "Do you wish to submit?" she asked.

"NO WAY! I WON'T SUBMIT EVEN IF YOU ARE A GIRL!!!" declared Lee.

Cori tilted her head and smiled again, making the air around her sparkle. "HAI!" she said cutely.

At that moment, Rock Lee turned bright red and then blue as he lost all the steam in his body. "I lost....." he said before falling over backwards and fainting.

"Huh?" asked Cori , surprised at Lee's sudden submission.

Jubei sat on her master's head and grinned. "Nya! Nya! Lee-kun fainted!"

"Nande, Jubei?" asked Cori innocently.

"Cori-sama does it again!" the kitten said cheerfully. Jubei mentally turned her head into the shadows._ 'Cori- sama.... you are so clueless.....and it was your Super Innocent Charm too.....'_

"Oh well?" asked Cori. She began to jog towards Lee. "Ano... senpai? Daijobu? Lee-senpai?"

Lee mentally cried in his mind. _'GAI-SENSEI!!!! FORGIVE ME!!!!!'_

_

* * *

_

(Elsewhere....)

_'LEE-KUN!!! FORGIVE YOUR PATHETIC SENSEI!!!!!!!!'_ cried Gai in his mind as Zakuro had already stomped him into a crater was still at it.

* * *

-R.F sits in front of the Tv watching the events take place- : Yeesh... men..... oh well the fight continues in the next chapter till then!!! NYA!

* * *


	11. The Fight Continues!

It's finally here! Chp 10!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Chapter 10: The Fight continues! Neji/Tenten vs Hikari/Kaori!**

Yue screamed as she got thrown back, transforming back to her kitten form as she hit the ground. "Yue!" yelled Kaori, dragging her numbed leg as she crawled over to Yue. "Yue..., are you alright? Say something!" she said as she tenderly cradled her kitten in her arms.

A battered Yue slowly opened her eyes to see her mistress's worried face. _"Did you managed to get the information you needed?"_ she whispered in a tired voice.

Kaori held Yue closer to her body, hugging the kitten. _"Yes, thank you, Yue...."_ she whispered back.

"Are you ready to submit?" asked Neji, turning off his Byakugan.

"No," Kaori said flatly.

"Then so be it!" he yelled charging at her. _"JYUUKEN!" _he yelled, thrusting his palm at her only to have her disappear in front of his eyes.

"Good girl, Yue, stay here and rest..." he heard her say a few distance behind him. He glanced behind to see Kaori setting her kitten down on a soft patch of grass.

_'Wha-?! When did she...?!_"

"Hey, what are looking at?" asked Kaori suddenly.

Neji jumped back in shock to find himself standing face to face Kaori. "When the hell did you..?!" Neji sputtered before trailing off. Then he noticed something else. He wasn't looking down at her; she was at eye-level with him. "Wait, you're standing?!" he asked in shock.

"No, I'm sitting down," the girl replied flatly but Neji could sense the dripping sarcasm of the words.

"Impossible! How were you able to get the leg nerves working again so quickly?!"

Kaori smirked and held up her hand. Neji's eyes widened as he saw blue sparks of electricity surrounding her hand. "Behold the power of the Nekojiwa Lightning Style. We have the ability to convert our chakra into electricity and control it. I merely sent electric pulses into my leg to 'charge' the nerves again...."

Neji narrowed his eyes. _"Byakugan!"_ he exclaimed activating his kekkei genkai. Suddenly his eyes popped wide and gasped in shock at what he saw.

From Neji's point of vision, Kaori's chakra system was flowing with traces amount of electricity surrounding the chakra vessels. All of a sudden, the speed of the flow began to increase, generating more electricity. _'Shit!'_ he thought as he jumped back a few distance away from Kaori.

The girl's whole body sparked with blue electricity as she began to twirl her ribbon around her.

* * *

Hikari screamed as she hit the ground rolling.

"Hikari-sama!" cried Akane as she rushed to her mistress side.

Tenten smirked as she twirled her tonfas around. "You pick the wrong girl to use a weapon on, Hikari-chan. They don't call me the Weapons Mistress for nothing!"

All of a sudden, Tenten heard the sound of a chuckle emitting from Hikari, her shoulders visibly shaking as the red-head peeled herself of the ground. Akane started backing away very slowly, her fur standing on end. Suddenly Hikari sat down threw her head back and started laughing loudly. Startling the older genin.

"Wha-what's so funny?!" demanded Tenten.

Suddenly, Hikari stopped laughing and looked at Tenten with a slightly crazed look on her face, sending shivers down the girl's spine. Akane jumped onto her master's shoulder and curled around Hikari's neck."This feels GREAT! I haven't this much fun since sparring with Temari-oneesama!"

_'She's fought with Temari?'_

"Of course, it is to be expected of a kunoichi of Temari-oneesama's caliber....so"

Tenten gripped her tonfas more tightly.

"SHOW ME YOUR STRENGTH AS A KUNOICHI, TENTEN-SENPAI!!!!" demanded Hikari as she suddenly came dashing at Tenten on all fours with Akane running at her side, growling like how a panther would.

Tenten quicky prepared to strike with her tonfas.

"Akane, disarm!" commanded Hikari as Akane ran ahead.

"Hai, Hikari-sama!"

With that Akane pounced on Tenten, with her claws outstretched. In a flash of white light, Akane soared pass Tenten. At the same time, Hikari grazed past her senior. Both cat and girl slid to a stop somewhere behind Tenten. There was a pause for about two seconds. Suddenly, the tonfas in Tenten's hands fell to pieces, shocking the girl. In a split second, Tenten began to feel several sharp stings on her cheek and along her side where a bit of her clothing ripped. The weapon's mistress placed a hand to her cheek where she felt a thin straight cut with warm moist liquid dripping from it. Small crimson stains began to appear on her pink Chinese shirt where it was ripped. Slowly, Tenten turned her head to look at Hikari and gasped. On Hikari's face was no longer the look of a regular girl but the look of complete sadist. "NOW who's the Predator?" asked Hikari as she charged at Tenten.

Quickly, Tenten summoned a two part metal bo-staff. She quickly seperated it and used it to block Hikari 'claws'. All of sudden Tenten felt herself getting socked in the stomach by Akane who head butted the girl with such force that Tenten coughed up blood. This time it was Tenten's turn to hit the ground rolling. The girl gripped her stomach as she painfully staggered to get up. _'Woah, what is up her? She's totally vicious! This is making that last fight I had with Temari looked like child's play!'_

After regaining her composure, Tenten surprised Hikari by bolting into the forest. Akane and Hikari looked at each other and smiled evilly. "The hunt is on!" they both exclaimed before running after their 'Prey'.

* * *

_"Jyuuken!" _yelled Neji as he delivered a forward palm thrust towards Kaori, merely sidestepped and slapped his hand out of the way.

Growling, Neji lashed out again only to have it blocked by Kaori's shackle. Neji a tingly feeling in his arm as the chakra he attempted to dispel shot back into his arm.

Kaori gave her senior a sly grin. "The Nekojiwa shackle is more than just a fashion accessory you know, senpai..."she said, flicking the said item."Not only do they serve as a form of defense, these shackles are made from a special metallic alloy that has the ability to reflect and consume chakra depending on the user's will, so basically.... your Gentle Fist Technique is useless!"

"Don't be so sure of yourself, my dear girl," said Neji getting into his stance.

"Oh really?"

_"Byakugan!" _he yelled. "Looks like you're within range...." he muttered as the surroundings turned black and a green glowing Taoism symbol appeared on the ground. "Your defense is useless if you can't match my speed!"_"Eight Trigrams: Sixty Four Palms!"_

_"2 strikes!"_

Kaori merely pushed Neji's hands away with her shackles.

_"4 strikes!"_

Again, Neji's hands are blocked.

_"8 strikes!"_

**(R.F.: Must I repeat myself?)**

_"16 strikes!, 32 strikes!, 64 strikes!!!"_ yelled Neji, increasing the speed of his palm thrusts as he sent strike after strike at Kaori.

Kaori on the other hand seemed to be having no trouble at all as her hands flew effortlessly, matching Neji's speed, blow for blow. The girl then side stepped to avoid Neji's last blow and grabbed Neji's left outstretched arm. Moving to his side facing the opposite direction, Kaori then forced his arm into an L-shape as she swiftly intertwined and hooked Neji's right forearm with her right while grabbing her left wrist before throwing both arms down, sending the Hyuuga prodigy flying. Neji gritted his teeth as his back hit a tree trunk hard. Kaori watched as the boy slid down. Blood began to seep from the corners of Neji's mouth.

"Apparently, I CAN match your speed," stated Kaori as Neji struggled to get up using the tree trunk as support.

"I-impossible! No one except Lord Hiashi-sama should be able to block my Jyuuken!"

Kaori placed her hand in her pocket and drew out her Kaori Ribbon. She twirled it in a large spiral in front of her as her eyes dilated into slits. Sparks of blue electricity flew of the ribbon. _"Ninja Art: Spark Illusion…."_ she muttered.

At the same time, Neji quickly threw a kunai at Kaori, but the girl suddenly disappeared in a flash.

"Where are you aiming at?" asked Kaori's voice right beside his ear, causing Neji to jump out of his skin.

He turned his head slightly to see Kaori's face just inches from his. "Chu!" she said, slightly puckering her lips, which where only a few inches from Neji's.**(A/N: In Japan, "Chu!" is the sound referring to a kiss and no they did not if that's what you're thinking.) **

Flustered, Neji quickly turned around to strike at Kaori, who suddenly vanished in the blink of an eye again.

"_What's the matter senpai? I thought you were the Predator?"_said Kaori's voice as it echoed throughout the forest. _"You're letting your Prey get the best of you…."_

Neji's eyes darted all over the place, trying to find the source of the voice. _'I have to calm down; she's just toying with me!' _he thought as he took a deep breath.

"_Byakugan!"_ Neji yelled activating his bloodline limit. At that moment, Kaori who was hiding in the trees gave a rare smile. Neji's 360 degree vision began to quickly scan his surroundings for his target when suddenly a thin blue blur shot out from the trees behind him. The boy quickly jumped out of the way.

The blue ribbon struck the ground with blue static. Kaori appeared on the ground keeping her usual stoic expression on her face. She twirled her ribbon once in the air before striking at Neji, who dodged again. The ribbon sparked once more as it hit the ground. Kaori kept walking forward, lashing out and striking at her senior with her ribbon like a whip. At the same time Neji, was careful to dodge each strike while retreating. In an attempt to stop Kaori, Neji quickly jumped back a few steps and began flinging shuriken and kunai at her. Narrowing her eyes, Kaori manipulated her ribbon in such a way that the ribbon actually deflected the flying projectiles one by one with each strike. Unfazed, Kaori gave her ribbon another twirl as she stringed a shuriken in mid flight and grabbed a kunai with her ribbon, shocking Neji. As soon as she caught them, Kaori flicked her ribbon, sending the kunai and shuriken back at its owner.

Neji quickly ducked, unaware of the ribbon coming from above. _Cha!_ Neji flinched as he felt the dark blue ribbon wrap tightly around his left arm. Kaori smirked as she grabbed the ribbon with both hands. _"Nekojiwa style: Lightning Element Manipulation Jutsu…"_she muttered as blue electricity formed on her shackles.

Suddenly, the sparks shot down the ribbon like a wire at an amazing speed. Neji cried in pain as he felt electricity course through his body. The whole time, Kaori stood there with a look of indifference on her face. Neji gritted his teeth as he struggled, slowly lifting his arm and grabbed the ribbon. Catching Kaori off guard, he tugged the ribbon with all his might, jerking the girl towards him. Quickly lifting himself of the ground with one hand, Neji delivered a kick to Kaori's stomach, repelling her away from him. Due to the impact, Kaori let go of her ribbon and hit the ground rolling.

"Kaori-sama!" yelled Yue as Kaori coughed up blood.

* * *

Tenten ran through the forest, breathing hard. She could hear Hikari running after her, laughing as if they were merely playing a game of tag. _'Man, this girl's nuts!'_

"Where're ya goin' senpai? We're not finished!" yelled Hikari playfully.

_'She's definitely nuts!'_

Tenten quickly leaped into the air and fired a hoard of needles she pulled out of her hair buns. Hikari kept smiling as she deflected them easily with her shackles.

"Wow, what else those she keep in those?" asked Akane, riding on Hikari's head.

Flipping in mid-air and launching herself of a tree branch, Tenten quickly unraveled a weapon's scroll while twisting in the air gracefully and fired random weapons at Hikari in desperation, regardless of whether they are supposed to be thrown or not. HIkari eyes widened in admiration as she watched her senpai twist gracefully in the air, ignoring the flying weapons. Lucky for her, Akane was quick to act. Taking a deep breath, Akane yelled,_ "Ninja Art: Baby Fireballs!" _she yelled spewing small fireballs out of her mouth.

Each fireball collided with a weapon causing a bunch of small explosions.

Tenten landed on a tree branch and looked behind her. "That outta distract them."

"Who? Me?" asked Hikari, appearing upside down in front of Tenten's face, giving her a cat grin.

"Woah!" yelled Tenten in shock as she jumped of backwards.

Hikari swung her self of her branch and and launched herself at her senior.

The two girls quickly began fighting as they dropped to the ground. Hikari threw a punch at Tenten who curved backwards and grabbed Hikari's neck between her feet and threw her to the ground. At the same time Tenten threw an small exploding tag at her. This exploding tag in particular was about the size of a Post-It note so that it caused a small explosion, blasting Hikari to the ground.

"Hikari-sama!" yelled Akane as she ran to the crater where her master fell.

Tenten landed, brushing dirt of her clothes. "I'm glad that's over..." she said, sighing in relief.

Suddenly, she heard a crunch behind her. Freezing up, the girl slowly turned to find Hikari's hand sticking out of the smoking crater and digging her fingers into the ground with Akane backing up towards Tenten.

"Uh...-oh...."

"What? What's happening?!" asked Tenten, taking a step back.

A menacing growl was heard as a dark silhouette with red glowing eyes rose out from the crater. A sudden chill shot down Tenten's spine as she gulped.

_**"Senpai.... you....."**_ growled Hikari with a dark look on her face.

"ARE ONE OF THE MOST AWESOME KUNOICHI EVER!!!!!" she exclaimed happily as she hugged Tenten's waist, with stars sparkling against a rainbow atmosphere.

"GAH! Get off me!!!!" yelled Tenten as she attempted to wriggle out of Hikari's vice-like grip, but the girl hung on, cat grinning and purring in delight.

"Hi-hikari-sama?....." asked Akane sweat dropping.

"NYA~! SENPAAAIIIII!!!!!! NYA-NYUUUU!!!" mewed Hikari as she looked at her senior with stars in her eyes.

"SOMEBODY HELP MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

* * *

Kaori got up slowly, as her ribbon disappeared into smoke. Both she and Neji were panting hard. "Playtime's over...."she said, dashing at Neji, who braced himself.

_"Ninja Art: Shadow Clone Illusion!"_ she yelled, forming a few hand seals.

Suddenly, Kaori's running image began to split up into at least 10 of her. Neji smirked."Hn, is that all? A useless clone jutsu won't work that easily on a Hyuuga-"

"Don't be so full of yourself, sweetie..." the girl said, as her clones began to split up in all directions.

Neji closed his eyes and activated his bloodline limit. "Hmph, you can make a 100 clones for all I care, but my Byakugan would find the real- what?!" exclaimed Neji as he saw that every single one of the clones had an even spread of chakra in each of them.

Taking advantage of the moment Kaori's clones charged at Neji. One of the clones tried to punch Neji who dodged. Neji in turn tried to strike at that clone only to phase through her. Before he had time to react, one of the Kaori appeared behind him and kneed him in the back. Neji cried in pain as blood spurted from his mouth. Neji lay sprawled on the ground, his fingers clutching the earth in pain.

"H-how?! That's not possible! They can't be Shadow Clones! And there's no way a regular clone could be capable of inflicting injury!"

Suddenly, Kaori appeared kneeling in front of Neji as her clones disappeared. The girl placed a finger under his chin and lifted Neji's face so that he found himself looking straight into her eyes. They say the eyes were the window to your soul, but apparently Kaori's had hers hidden behind four high security doors. There was nothing he could see about her. Her brown eyes reflected well hidden emotions and anything about her.

"There are a lot of things you don't know about me Neji-senpai, you have know idea what I could do...."

Suddenly, Neji grabbed her hand, pushed himself of the ground and onto her so that she fell on her back and was looking up at Neji. The boy placed one hand on her face and brought his face down so that his lips were right next to her ear. _"Apparently Kaori-chan..., neither do you....."_he whispered into her ear.

"Get away from my mistress!" screamed Yue as she struggled to stand.

Kaori's pupils dilated as she felt Neji press a pressure point in her neck and shot chakra into it. Slowly, she closed her eyes as she blacked out.

"KAORI-SAMAAAA!!!!!!!!" yelled Yue as the kitten forced herself off the ground and charge at Neji.

Being in the weakened state she is, Neji had no trouble subduing the kitten and knocking her out. The boy carefully cradled the kitten in his arms as he turned to look at the unconsious Nekojiwa girl. Even when knocked out, she appeared mysterious, intriguing Neji. "Nekojiwa Kaori..., what kind of girl are you?" he asked, knowing full well that she can't answer.

* * *

R.F: ALRIGHT!!!! WOOT! WOOT! CHP 10 IS FINALLY DONE!!!!


	12. Aftermath

**Chapter 11: Aftermath.......**

Neji looked down at Kaori's sleeping face leaning on his shoulder as he carried the girl bridal style towards the meeting spot. Yue lay curled up on Kaori's stomach, also unconscious from the battle. He was still bugged by the girl's seemingly emotionless face and by the lack of personality he saw in her eyes. What bugged him more was the techniques she was able to pull off when they were sparring.

_Flashback......_

_"Ninja Art: Shadow Clone Illusion!" she yelled, forming a few hand seals._

_Suddenly, Kaori's running image began to split up into at least 10 of her. Neji smirked."Hn, is that all? A useless clone jutsu won't work that easily on a Hyuuga-"_

_"Don't be so full of yourself, sweetie..." the girl said, as her clones began to split up in all directions._

_Neji closed his eyes and activated his bloodline limit. "Hmph, you can make a 100 clones for all I care, but my Byakugan would find the real- what?!" exclaimed Neji as he saw that every single one of the clones had an even spread of chakra in each of them._

_Taking advantage of the moment Kaori's clones charged at Neji. One of the clones tried to punch Neji who dodged. Neji in turn tried to strike at that clone only to phase through her. Before he had time to react, one of the Kaori appeared behind him and kneed him in the back. Neji cried in pain as blood spurted from his mouth. Neji lay sprawled on the ground, his fingers clutching the earth in pain._

_"H-how?! That's not possible! They can't be Shadow Clones! And there's no way a regular clone could be capable of inflicting injury!"_

_Suddenly, Kaori appeared kneeling in front of Neji as her clones disappeared. The girl placed a finger under his chin and lifted Neji's face so that he found himself looking straight into her eyes. If there was one thing Neji knew about reading people it was through their eyes, but there was nothing he could see about her. Her brown eyes showed emptiness, completely void of all emotions._

_"There are a lot of things you don't know about me Neji-senpai, you have know idea what I could do...." Kaori whispered....._

_End of Flashback...._

"Shadow Clone Illusion...." Neji said to himself. "What kind of technique is it?....."

Suddenly he saw what he was looking for, the kunai marker. Nobody was there yet but just as he approached the marker he heard a rustling in some nearby by bushes, this was followed by some happy mewing and sounds of disgruntlement.

"Let go of me ya' little nutcase!" yelled Tenten as she emerged from the bushes while trying to break free from Hikari who was hugging Tenten like a koala bear and purring at the same time.

"NYAAAAAAA~!" she said.

Neji sweatdropped. "Uh........."

"Hmm?" Tenten looked at her teammate. "Neji!" Suddenly her eyes traveled down to Kaori, whose head rested against Neji's shoulder. That, adding to the fact that Neji is carrying her bridal style did not make the scene look any less awkward. Tenten's and Akane's eyes bugged so much that their pupils disappeared and mouths practically hit the ground in shock.

"Huh? Senpai? Daijobu-nya?" asked Hikari when she saw Tenten's expression. She then turned her head following Tenten's gaze.

_**"NYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA??????????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! " **_Hikari screamed, suddenly jumping off Tenten and snatching Kaori from Neji while Akane grabbed Yue.

"Oi! Kaori! Wake up! Get a hold of yourself!" "Hinya!!! Yue-san! Wake-up!!!"

Suddenly a dark aura emerged from Hikari and Akane as they stiffly turned their heads to look at Neji with demonic glowing eyes. **_"Neeeeeeejiiiiii- seeeeeennpaaaai........"_**

The Hyuuga boy's body actually went rigid in fear as he saw the murderous look on their faces. _'What's wrong with me? My body is freezing up! Their aura actually feels overwhelming...'_

_**"DIE YOU MALE-BASTARD!!!!!!"**_ cried Hikari and Akane as they both lunged at Neji.

_"Lightning Style: Double Shocker!" _yelled a certain blue haired girl. All of sudden Neji watched in confusion as the demonic pair about to kill him began spazzing out as they got electrocuted by bolts of blue lightning from Kaori.

Neji and Tenten sweat dropped as they looked at Hikari and Akane who lay sprawled on the ground, twitching and extra crispy. Kaori sat up sighed irritably as she pushed her hair out of her eyes. "Utterly inexcusable!" she muttered.

"Yo!" called Zakuro Nekojiwa as she appeared behind the group with Tsuchi dragging a large bundle of an unidentifiable shape wrapped up in a large violet colored cloth.

"Zakuro-sensei! Where's Gai-sensei?" asked Tenten as she ran up to the older woman.

Tsuchi walked over dragging the bundle to them and walked away. Hikari, Akane and Kaori looked at the bundle before looking at their sister. "You didn't....." they all muttered.

Curious, Tenten and Neji undid the bundle and peeked inside. It wasn't long they both recoiled in horror and went running to the bushes to puke. Hikari and Akane also decide to have a peek inside. "Yeeeeeeeeee....!" they both said in disgust as they turned their heads.

Kaori looked stoically at her older sister. "Onee-sama, you were too hard on him....."

Zakuro shrugged casually, causing Tsuchi to sigh heavily. It was at that moment Tsuchi noticed that not everybody had returned. "Oh? Where's Cori and Gai-junior?" asked Tsuchi.

Kaori shrugged. "Who knows...."

* * *

Somewhere else...

Rock Lee slowly opened his eyes to see the clouds up ahead. His body felt cool and refreshed while he felt head lying down on something soft, warm and fluffy. "Oh, Cori-sama, he's awake!" said a woman's voice. It sounded familiar but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"Lee-senpai? Are you alright?" asked a more familar voice, as the speakers face came into view.

Suddenly, Lee became wide awake as he shot up from a seating position. "C-cori-chan!"

Cori blinked twice in surprise. "I'll take that as a yes...."

It didn't long for Lee to realize that his face was just inches from Cori's own. His face began to glow red as his hair started to stand on end. Quickly, he began to crawl away backwards from her until he bumped against something large and fuzzy. He slowly turned his head to find himself face to face with a large white tiger with blue stripes. "Konnichi-nya!" it said.

"GAAAAH!!!!!" yelled Lee, jumping into the air before quickly jumping in front of Cori and taking a battle stance. "Don't worry Cori! I'll save you from the foul beast!"

"EH?!" exclaimed Cori all of a sudden as Lee began rushing at the tiger.

"Lee-san! You meanie!!!" yelled the tiger as a pair large of wings appeared on its back in a puff of smoke. The tiger flapped her wings and began to take off into the air when Lee suddenly pounced on it and tackled the tiger to the ground.

"Cho-chotto mate kudasai, Lee-senpai!!!!" cried Cori, suddenly getting up and running towards Lee, who had the tiger in a headlock.

The sound of Cori's voice did make Lee stop in confusion. At the same time, the tiger suddenly went poof making the boy fall over.

"Waaaaaaah~! Cori-sama!!!!!!!!!!" wailed Jubei who suddenly appeared and leaped into Cori's arms crying.

In the meantime, Lee was frantically searching for the tiger that suddenly disappeared. "Cori-chan! Are you alright?! Where's that tiger?!" he demanded jumping to his feet and searching behind the trees surrounding them.

Cori and Jubei sweat dropped as they sighed heavily.

-----------------------(A few minutes of explanation)--------------------------------

"So you're saying that all cats of the Nekojiwa clan can transform with the Winged Beast Jutsu?" asked Lee.

Cori nodded, smiling like she always does. Suddenly she placed both hands on Lee's face and leaned in towards him. Lee immediately began to blush as his eyes widened while Jubei widened her eyes and fluffed her fur. _'D-don't tell me! She's already making the first mo-!' _they both thought_.  
_

"Ah! Looks like I missed the cut on your cheek!" exclaimed Cori turning Lee's face slightly to the left.

"NGA!" exclaimed Jubei as she fell on to her face anime style while Lee sweat dropped.

"Are you ok Jubei?" asked Cori seeing her familiar on her face.

Jubei looked up at Cori with a forced smile on her face while chuckling slightly. Cori smiled back as she turned her head to look at Lee who was turning red since she still had his face cupped in her hands. "Hold still please," she said as the tip of her index finger glowed green with chakra. She lightly touched a bead of Lee's sweat that was trickling down the side of his face.**(R.F: Gross, is it not?)** The sweat coated her finger in a blue glow. Slowly, she traced the cut on Lee's cheek, causing it to heal instantly. "There, all better!" said Cori cheerfully as beamed at Lee in such a way that the air around her head sparkled with innocence.

Suddenly, steam erupted from Lee's ears resulting in him fainting again.

"EH?! Not again!" exclaimed Cori scrambling over to Lee who lay there unconscious with his face all red and steamy. "Lee-senpai, get a hold of yourself!" she exclaimed worriedly as she shook Lee's body.

Jubei sat on the sidelines watching the scene in front of her take place before turning her head in to the shadows. _"And Cori-sama's Knockout Charm strikes again....."_ she muttered in disdain.

* * *

*R.F. watches scene on a tv moniter*

R.F.: **(-_-u)** Oh good grief Lee......

* * *


	13. Special corner 2

_**NEKOJIWA SPECIAL CORNER!!!! START!!!!**_

_(Lightning flashes in the dark sky as Raven Familar is seen somersaulting towards the ground at top speed.)_

_**BOOM! **_

**R.F:**Cough! Cough! *Emerges out of smoky crater* Whooo! That was fun! *Notices audience* Oh! HI Minna-san!!!!

*Crowd cheers*

**R.F:** *smiles* Ok as you can guess after a long while, we are back with the NEKOJIWA SPECIAL CORNER!!!!!

*Cheers!**Thunder crashes*

**R.F: **Ok, enough with the special effects.... *claps hands, scene changes to stage with projector screen* Now without further ado, the today's profile will be about * puffs into smoke, revealing R.F. to be wearing Kaori's outfit and with simmilar hairstyle* Nekojiwa Kaori and Kage no Yue!

* * *

_**Kaori's Profile appears....**_

**Kaori Nekojiwa, 12 yrs old**

**Introduction Line: The Azure Miko-Nin, Nekojiwa Kaori...! **_(Tone is smooth yet has impact)_

**Nicknames: Riri-chan (by an unnamed childhood friend), Kaori-san (by Kiba), Kaori-chan ( general nickname), Kaori (by Hikari), Kaori-neechan (by Cori), Kaori-sama (Nekojiwa cats)**

**Born: 31st July**

**Ninja rank: Genin**

**Heavy Weapon: Cat Sash Bells**

**Close Combat Weapon: Melon Hammer Bells**

**Agility Weapon: Kaori Ribbon**

**Role: Team Strategist for Team Neko**

**Astrological Sign: Leo**

**Favorite colour: Azure**

**Element Affinity: Lightning  
**

**Position in Family: Eldest Nekojiwa Triplet**

**Marital Status: Single**

**Relatives: Oldest sister (Zakuro), elder sister (Hikari), Youngest sister (Cori), Mother (Fuu Tomoyo), Father (Shouta)**

**Familiar: Kage no Yue (Yue of the Shadows)**

**Personality: Mysterious, Intelligent, Demure, Complicated, Calm, Pretty much expressionless sometimes, Sneaky, Sharp, Wise, More Mature than sisters, Sagely, Artistic and Musical....**

**Catchphrases (s): Utterly Inexcusable! (Annoyed), You don't know me that well..., Coincidence does not exist, only hitsuzen....**

**Laughs: Presses fingers over lips to suppress smile.**

**Sidenotes : Kaori is quite mysterious in a lot of ways, mostly a daydreamer, known for spouting wise words every now and then....

* * *

**

**Kage no Yue**

**Born: 31st July**

**Breed: Mix bred (Part cat, part leopard)**

**Type: Nin Cat**

**Owner: Kaori Nekojiwa**

**Personality: Obedient type, fiercely loyal to Kaori, hardly says anything, pretty much similar to Kaori. Gets along well with everybody, quite a heavy sleeper...

* * *

**

**R.F:** And there you have folks! Another sister done! Feel free to ask me more questions if you want! Ja Ne! *Lightning flashes and R.F. vanishes*


	14. The Making of New Friends!

**Chapter 12: The Making of New Friends!**

(That evening at the Konoha Hospital)

"WAAAAH!!!! GAI-SENSEEEEIII!!!!" wailed Rock Lee as he began crying over the bandaged up body of his beloved teacher. Or at least what's left of him at the moment. **  
**

Shizune sighed heavily as she placed her hands on the boy's shoulders. "There, there Lee-san, he's going to be all right, now go wait in the lobby with the others..."she said gently as she began leading him out the door.

"Hai....."

Shizune turned to look at Zakuro and Kaori who were sitting in the room. "Despite the fact that Gai-san was literally a bloody pulp when you brought him in, he should be back on his feet in about 6 weeks," explained Shizune closing the door behind her and Lee.

Kaori sighed heavily and folded her arms. "Like I said before...onee-sama you were too rough on him..."

Yue who was asleep on Kaori's shoulder opened one eye to side glance at Zakuro whose face remained in different. "Might I ask what did he do to make you stampede him like that?"

Zakuro sat herself down on an empty hospital bed beside Gai's, crossing one leg over the other. "I'm not telling."

Kaori looked at her older sister blankly. "Instant proposal?"

"More or less....."replied Zakuro bluntly.

Tsuchi stood on the sidelines with Yue on her head. _'Didn't she just said she was not telling?!'_they both mentally asked.

Zakuro yawned and stretched her arms, cracking her neck at the same time. "Come on, let's go Kaori," she said, exiting the room with Yue who rode on Tsuchi's head. The girl nodded and walked towards the door.

_"Oi! Don't leave me here! WHAT ABOUT MY PRECIOUS STUDENTS?!"_ asked a familiar voice that sounded somewhat disembodied.

Kaori turned her head to look at the thing hovering above Gai's body; or to be more exact, the spirit of Gai.

"Daijobu Gai-sensei.... you're not dead.... but I suggest you stay in your body for the time being or else the shinigamis would try to make you pass on...." said Kaori with her pupils in slits.

Gai's spirit looked down at his body and shrieked in shock. He looked at Kaori with waterfall tears pouring out of his eyes. _"Hai....."_he said sniffling as he floated back into his body and with that, Kaori slid the door close behind her.

* * *

(In the lobby....)

"Hnnnngg....Gai-senseeeii......" sobbed Lee with depression weighing heavily on him.

Tenten, Neji, Hikari and Akane looked at him in disdain. "He's not dead you know....." they all said bluntly.

Cori and Jubei looked at Lee with sympathetic looks. "Poor senpai...."

Suddenly Lee felt a hand placed on his head. He looked up to see Zakuro who bent down to his eye level. Tsuchi stood behind her looking at the boy with apologetic eyes. Her eyes were shadowed by her fringe so Lee couldn't get a proper look at her face. Her lips formed a small apologetic smile at the boy. "Gomene, Lee-kun,"she said in a gentle voice. "Your sensei was such a sweet man to go easy on me but I went overboard..."

Lee looked at Zakuro with his big round eyes. He felt comforted by the sound of her voice. "H-hai..."

Zakuro smiled at the boy before straightening herself up. "Yosh! Since I went little overboard with your sensei, how about I make it up to you guys by supervising your training for the time being?"

"EH?!"exclaimed Tenten and Neji at the same time.

"Sounds like a good idea, after all it would be interesting..." said a voice from in between Tenten and Neji.

"WAAH! Kaori-san! When did you get here?!" exclaimed Tenten in shock.

"Yeah! I get to spend more time with Tenten-senpai!" exclaimed Hikari happily looking at the said person with stars in her eyes.

Akane joined Yue on Tsuchi's back along with Jubei. The kitten looked at Hikari with a huge sweat drop hanging at the back of her head. _'H-hikari-sama.....'_

"I think it's a wonderful idea! Ne, Lee-senpai?" asked Cori clasping her hands together and smiling at Lee.

Lee quickly blushed and stood erect like a board. "H-hai! Cori-chan!" he said in such a way that Neji raised an eyebrow at Lee questioningly.

Meanwhile in the background, Tenten immediately started shifting away from Hikari. The girl began shifting towards Tenten. A vein throbbed just above Tenten's eyebrow as she shifted away again. Hikari shifted towards her and so the process continues out the building. The rest all sweat dropped as they followed the two. The moment the grouped stepped out of the hospital compound, Neji stiffly turned his head to look at Zakuro. "Uuuh....."

"Hm?" Zakuro glanced down at Neji. "Want to get some ramen? I'm famished!" she asked suddenly.

Hikari turned to look at Zakuro happily with stars in her eyes. "YATTA! FINALLY A CHANCE TO EAT KONOHA'S FAMOUS ICHIRAKU'S RAMEN! URESHII~!"

Akane jumped onto Hikari's head looking just as excited. "NYA~! RAMEN~!"

"OH!" shouted Hikari, pumping her fist into the air.

"NYAAH~! RAMEN~!!"

"OH!!"

Everyone else nodded in agreement except Neji. "Uuuh...." he began to say.

Zakuro placed a hand on the boy's head and tussled it vigorously. "Don't worry your little Hyuuga head, Princey! It's my treat!" she said grabbing Neji's wrist and jogged, pulling him along while Hikari with Akane riding a top her head jogging ahead of the group cheering "RAMEN!" "OH!"

The remaining genin and cats too began to jog with the others to keep up. "Princey?" Rock Lee and Tenten asked , looking at each other incredulously before looking at Kaori and Cori who jogged on either side of them. Kaori just shrugged at Tenten while Cori once again gave Lee a smile, causing him to suddenly jog stiffly ahead in order to hide his blush leaving the girl confused in his wake. Tsuchi, Yue, Jubei along with Tenten and Kaori all sighed heavily at Cori's cluelessness.

* * *

(At Ichiraku's Ramen)

"Irashaimassen!" exclaimed the young woman behind the counter cheerfully. "What would you like to order?"

Hikari and Akane's nostrils flared at the smell of ramen. "Smells good! Onee-chan! Chicken Ramen please!" she exclaimed putting up a hand. "With four plates of fishcakes please!"

"HAI! my father will be ready with your orders soon and please, call me Ayame~" came the reply, cheerfully.

The others placed their orders and sat down. "Here you go," said the young woman placing everybody's ramen on the table.

"And the fishcakes for the cats!" said an old man walking out from behind the counter, placing the plates on the ground. Tsuchi immediately transformed into a regular sized cat and meowed happily. The four felines looked at the plates filled with fishcakes with huge sparkly eyes. They began licking their chops as the Nekojiwa sisters and Team Gai grabbed and broke apart their chopsticks. "Itadakimasu!" they all exclaimed.

The very moment Zakuro and Hikari took a mouthful of their ramen, their eyes began to light up with stars as the air around them became sparkly. _"Oiishiiiiiiiiii~!"_

_"Nya~!!!"_ agreed Tsuchi and the kittens.

_**Pop! Pop!**_ Suddenly, two locks of hair on each on Zakuro's and Hikari's hair popped up stood on their heads and twitched. Cori swallowed the ramen in her mouth and smiled and held her face to hide the blush of delight she felt. "Oishii~ nyaa!!!" she mewed adding more stars to the air. _**Pop!**_ Two locks of hair began to stand on her head as well. _**POP! **_Same thing happened to Kaori despite her expressionless face. Team Gai, Ayame and the old man stared at the sisters with large eyes as the hair locks began to twitch. For a moment, the 4 girls were replaced with four cats instead in everybody's eyes.

**"N-NEKOMIMI?!!"** Team Gai exclaimed in shock. _**(A/N: Nekomimi =Cat ears)**_

The old man chuckled in amusement. "Well, I never had anyone react to my ramen like that before!"

The sisters looked at them before feeling the top of their heads. "Oh dear, they popped out," said Cori before smoothing them down. Neji, Tenten and Lee looked at each other.

Kaori ate her ramen quietly as she shrugged and glanced up at the old man. "First time for everything Teuchi-ojisan..." she said.

Teuchi looked hard at Kaori looking evidently surprised. "Funny, how did you know my name? I don't recall mentioning it, did you Ayame?" Ayame shook her head.

Kaori downed down the rest of her soup before politely wiping her mouth. "I know a lot of things sir, that and your name tag told me..." she said pointing to the old man's tag causing everyone to sweat drop.

Zakuro finished off the remaining noodles in her bowl and dabbed her mouth with a napkin. The 'ears' on top of her head twitched first before flattening themselves down on her head. "Don't ask... " she said suddenly growing serious. "By the way, tomorrow afternoon, meet me at the lake near the forest. Oh, and Tenten, bring your swimsuit along okay." It was an order, not a request.

The team immediately began to blush, Tenten being the reddest and for some reason, blood was trickling down Neji's nose. Cori noticed this and instantly her pupils began to shrink until only the whites of her eyes can be seen. She began to shudder greatly as her body became rigid. _"B-b..." _she began to stutter.

Her sisters saw this and quickly noticed Neji. "Holy Crap! Neji-Senpai, your nose is bleeding!" yelled Hikari as she quickly grabbed a few paper napkins from the counter and shoved them up Neji's nose. Neji gasped for breath and fell of his chair in shock. He glared at Hikari as he plucked himself of the ground and pulled the bloody tissues out of his nose. "Thanks a lot _Hikari-chan_..." he said through his teeth while forcefully smiling.

Hikari smiled back despite noticing Neji's insincerity as Akane jumped on her shoulder. "Your welcome _Hyuuga-sama.._" she replied sarcastically. Akane turned her head into the shadows. _'I smell war's acoming, nya-nyu...'_ she said to herself mentally seeing possible signs of tension between the Hyuuga and her mistress.

Suddenly Hikari felt herself getting picked up and tossed upon Zakuro's shoulder. Akane quickly jumped onto Tsuchi's back. "Hey! Put me down oneesama!" she yelled in protest as she struggled but Zakuro had wrapped her right arm around the girls legs restricting the red head's movement. Zakuro ignored her little sister's cries of protest. "Remember, tomorrow 12 noon, lake, be there," she said paying old man Teuchi the bill. "And Tenten, don't forget your swimsuit."

Tenten blushed a second time. "I-I know that!" she replied in a flustered voice.

Zakuro smiled. "Good. Let's go girls," she said walking off with a thrashing Hikari still slung over her shoulder. Kaori bowed and trotted after Zakuro with Tsuchi and the kittens behind her. Cori simply smiled and said "I can't wait to see you again tomorrow Lee-senpai!" before bowing and catching up to her sisters.

Cori's last words echoed like heavenly bells in Lee's ears as steam came wafting out of his head while he became red with joy. Tenten and Neji looked at their teammate as if he was bonkers when he began chuckling to himself and started skipping his way home humming the waltz with flowers and sparkles floating around his head. Yeah, you read that right. He was SKIPPING! The two remaining team members side glanced each other with raised eyebrows. "Neji, I think he has completely lost it...." said Tenten. Neji folded his arms and nodded solemnly.

* * *

R.F: Hi everyone! Sorry it took me so long to write this chapter! I had tons of school work to do and right now, I'm bushed........ -_-...... ASOBITAI!!! * throws arms up in the air*

Lee: *still skipping happily unaware of surroundings*

R.F: *Looks at Lee and sighs* Oh I'll get him later.... Later days minna-san!


	15. Zakuro the Substitute Sensei!

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto! If I did, the Triplets are so in it and I'll create all the crossovers I want! KYA-KYA-KYA!  
**_

* * *

**Chapter 13: Zakuro, the Substitute Sensei!**

The next morning came quickly for the citizens of Konoha. Especially for Rock Lee, who was already up at at'em just minutes before the sun rose and was already making his way through the forest where Zakuro had told his and her teams to meet. He was really eager to start training even though the meeting time was in the afternoon. As he neared the training spot he began to hear the sounds of large boulders breaking and sounds of cougar roaring. _'Zakuro-sensei?'_ thought Lee as he ran ahead towards the clearing where the lake was.

...

"HIYA!" "CHA!" "HAH!" were the grunts Lee heard as he emerged from the forest. Suddenly, there was a loud boom and large boulder came flying his way. Lee quickly jumped out of the way to avoid it, hitting the ground rolling before getting back onto his feet.

Lee looked up to see Zakuro fighting an unfamiliar woman, with long dark blond hair. She wore a bright yellow fighting kimono with a brown sash. Like Zakuro, she wore similar black pants with golden cuffs along with geta sandals and white socks. "YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" cried Zakuro as she ran forward and jumped at her opponent, sending kicks with such speed and technique, it looked as if Zakuro was dancing in mid air.

Then again, her opponent was no novice as well. She blocked and dodged Zakuro's attacks just as fast as Zakuro was kicking. The blond woman finally managed to get a hold of Zakuro's foot and throw her. Zakuro was quick enough to twist her body and land on her feet, dashing at her opponent again. This time the blond woman charged as well. Both woman jumped into the air while spinning and began delivering a barrage of kicks at each other while blocking with their legs at the same time. Their movements were so fast that they almost appeared like they were hovering in the air. With one final kick both women were repelled in separate ways and hit the ground hard, forming two small trenches.

Zakuro's opponent got up quickly, only to find that Zakuro herself had disappeared. Suddenly, the blondie felt herself getting pushed to the ground as Zakuro appeared from behind and pounced on her. "Give up yet?" asked Zakuro as she sat on her opponent's waist and pinned the blond woman's arms behind her back.

"Sugoi..." Rock Lee finally managed to say.

The blond turned her head to glance at Zakuro and smiled sneakily. "Not yet..." she said.

Suddenly, Zakuro felt a strong push as her opponent curved her legs and kicked Zakuro so hard that the teenager was sent into a forward roll and landed on her face. Lee gasped as he saw the blond woman quickly leap forward and jumped on Zakuro, this time pinning Zakuro's wrists spread out by her side with her palm's facing up. The blond woman also had used her own legs to clamp the teenager's legs together so that Zakuro is unable to pull the same trick on her. "Now, do **you** give up?" asked the woman with a smile.

Before Zakuro could give her answer, both women heard the sounds of running feet coming in their direction.

"You leave Zakuro-sensei alone!" yelled Lee as he came charging towards them. "HIYA!" he yelled as he launched a flying kick at the blond woman.

"W-wait!" the blond woman was about to say before jumping off Zakuro to dodge Lee's foot.

The blondie back flipped a few times to regain her footing and put some distance between her and Lee, who was beginning to charge at her again. "Would you hold it?" she yelled again as she started dodging Lee's punches and kicks._ 'He's really starting to piss me off...'_she thought in annoyance as she ducked in time to avoid Lee's punch.

Suddenly, Lee disappeared from her line of vision. "He's fast!" she exclaimed.

"Take this, stranger!" Lee yelled appearing from behind the blond woman, preparing to do a drop kick on her.

The blondie flinched, unable to defend herself in time. The woman heard a crash and felt bits of rock bouncing of her skin. She looked up to see Zakuro standing in front of her with her hands in her pockets standing there nonchalantly. The blonde looked to the right to see a very surprised Lee some distance away in a small trench as a result from hitting the ground hard.

"Zakuro-sensei? Why did you stop my attack? Isn't she supposed to be your enemy?" the boy asked in confusion.

"Lee-kun, you should really stop jumping to conclusions on the spot, it's gonna get you in trouble one day," said the blond woman, smiling as she got up and walked with Zakuro towards the boy. Lee got even more surprised when a pair of rounded cougar ears and tail popped out from the woman's hair and skirt.

"Ring any bells?" Zakuro asked, jerking a thumb at the other woman.

"No way! Tsuchi?" exclaimed Lee.

Tsuchi twitched her tail as she smiled at the boy. "Bingo!" she said as she went 'poof'. The smoke cleared to reveal Tsuchi back in her cougar form. "And for the record," Tsuchi began to say, suddenly sticking out her large paw, striking Lee in the chest, pushing him over. "Do that again, and **I will bite you**..." she said threateningly standing over Lee looking at him straight in the eye. _"Am I clear?" _Tsuchi whispered.

Lee looked at Tsuchi with his huge round eyes full of fear. _"Yes, ma'am!_" he squeaked.

Zakuro chuckled as Tsuchi got off the boy. "You really are an interesting kid, Junior!" she said in amusement.

"Junior?" asked Lee.

"Since you're here, why don't you come and sit with me," Zakuro said as she and Tsuchi walked towards the lake.

Lee simply nodded and stood up. "Junior?" he asked himself as he trotted after the two, pondering over various reasons on why Zakuro would call him that.

* * *

(Elsewhere near the Hyuuga compound)

"I'll be leaving now, Hinata-sama," Neji said to Hinata who was practicing her moves on a wooden stump.

"Hai, Onii-san," replied the girl, bowing to her cousin and smiling.

Neji gave Hinata a small smile as he left the Hyuuga house. Ever since the Chuunin exams, Neji had grown to become a little fond of his cousin who he used deem weak. He had even noticed a change in Hinata as well, such as a rise in confidence and improvement in technique. The moment he neared the corner, he heard a familiar female voice talking to someone. Curious, Neji increased his pace until he finally turned the corner to see a large tree that grew over the Hyuuga wall. A small chuckle drew his attention to the branches where he saw the silhouette of a girl with long tied up in a ponytail siting on one of the branches. She appeared to be having a conversation with someone, only Neji couldn't see who is it. As he neared the tree he began to pick up bits of the conversation from the girl.

"Actually, I'm new here, so I'm not thoroughly familiar with the area," the girl said.

Suddenly, she grew quiet and stared in to space as if she was listening to a reply.

"Oh, no wonder I became lost, I took the wrong road," the girl said in reply before chuckling.

Neji squinted his eyes to get a better look. "Kaori-san?" he called unsure.

Suddenly the girl looked down. "Senpai!" she said in surprise before jumping down and landing gracefully on her feet with a small pack strapped to her back. "What are you doing here?"

Neji quirked and eyebrow."I should be asking you that, this tree just happens to be growing right next to the Hyuuga compound," he said. "Who were you talking to anyway?"

Kaori simply ignored the boy and looked up at the tree. "Ja ne! Thanks for the directions! I'll come and visit soon!" she called to her unseen friend, waving before turning and walking away with her hands behind her back.

"Hey! Don't ignore me!" yelled Neji in annoyance.

Just before running after Kaori, the boy looked up at the branches and saw nothing. _"Byakugan!"_ he said, activating his bloodline ability. Through his eyes, Neji scanned the tree to catch a glimpse of a second person but saw nothing. He tried widening his vision of the area but he couldn't even see so much as a fly moving away from the tree. Neji turned of his Byakugan with a confused look on his face. _"Just **who **was she talking too?"_ Neji asked himself as he watched Kaori, who had by then come to a crossroad, was trying to decide which way to go.

Now, had Neji only looked more carefully with his Byakugan, he would have captured a medium size mass of energy on the branch Kaori was sitting on. Unaware, was the boy as a medium size male figure with long green hair and lightly tanned skin wearing a long dark brown robe watched the boy catch up with Kaori. At that moment, a sparrow came down and landed on the figure's shoulder. _**"It's been a long time since I had spoken with another human who could see me and did not fear me,"**_ said the figure, stroking the sparrow's feathery breast as he averted his gaze to a certain girl who was training in the Hyuuga compound.

At that moment, Hinata felt someone's eyes on her and stopped her training momentarily. _'What was that?'_ she thought shifting her eyes in the direction of the tree.

* * *

(Elsewhere)

"Man, who would have thought I out grew my swim suit already," muttered Tenten as she browsed through various styles of swimsuits in a shop. She lifted up a black bikini of the rack and looked at it with wide eyes. "I wouldn't be caught dead in this..." she said to herself.

"Really? I think it's cute," said a female voice from behind Tenten.

"Ino!" exclaimed Tenten in surprise as she whipped around to see the blond pony tailed girl smiling at her. **(R.F:Betcha' thought it was Hikari or Cori didn't ya?**)

"Watcha' doin' Tenten?"

"What does it look like?" replied Tenten as she placed back the bikini and continued browsing. "My team is having training this afternoon with the Nekojiwa sisters, and Zakuro-sensei said I needed to bring my swimsuit. Problem is, I out grew my old one so I'm looking for a new one."

Ino looked at her friend in confusion. "What happened to Gai-sensei?"

"He got pulverized...don't ask..." the girl said as she recalled seeing her sensei as a bloody pulp.

Ino raised her eyebrows but said nothing. Instead she reached out and picked up a swimsuit from the rack behind her. "What about this one?" suggested Ino, holding it up.

Tenten looked at it and held against her body. Without saying anything, she rushed into an empty changing room, surprising Ino.

* * *

"Do you see the lake, Akane?" asked Hikari as she flew on a transformed Akane's back.

"Not yet, Hikari-sama," replied the winged panther, flapping her wings to gain some speed.

"Wait for us Onee-sama!" called Cori from behind, riding on Jubei's back.

Both girls carried small back packs. Jubei flapped her wings a little more until she flying beside Akane. "I can smell the water and Zakuro-sama just ahead," said Jubei all of a sudden.

"Understood, let's go!" the two sisters said in unison.

The winged panther and tiger looked at each other and nodded. Folding their wings a little, the two big cats, slowly descended until they saw the large body of water sparkling in the sun.

"It's beautiful!" they all said in delight.

Just as they were landing, they saw Kaori, along with Neji and Tenten coming through the clearing. Hikari's eyes began to grow bright and shiny. "TENTEN-SENPAAAAAAAAAAIIIIII~~~!" she cried out happily as she jumped from Akane's back (when they were still a few feet of the ground no less!) and came shooting in Tenten's direction, catching the girl off guard.

"OOF!" went Tenten as Hikari successfully managed to glomp her with such force that the two girls rolled head over heels a few times.

"SENPAI~NYA-NYUUUU~!" mewed Hikari hugging her senior tightly.

"GET OFF OF ME! KAORI-SAN, HELP!" yelled Tenten as she tried to wriggle out of Hikari's grip.

_'Hikari-neesama...'_ thought Kaori in exasperation heaving a big sigh. She raised one hand in front of her as blue electricity began to static around her shackle and gather in her palm in the form of a small ball. _"Raiton: Kodama no Rai..."_ **(R.F: Literally translated as _Lightning Style: Small _****_Lightning _****_Ball ..._)**

Kaori lightly blew on it, causing the ball of lightning to float from her hand like a bubble and slowly let it drop on to her sister.

_**"NYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA...!" "IIIIIIYYAAAAAAAAAAA...!"**_ both Hikari and Tenten screamed as they got electrocuted by the the ball.

Painful as it was, it got Hikari to let go of Tenten. When the electricity wore off, the two girls lay on the grass blackened and twitching from getting shocked. "T-thank you..." strained Tenten.

"Your welcome," said Kaori, not even looking the least bit sorry for electrocuting them.

Neji simply sweat-dropped at the girl's nonchalant reaction. Meanwhile, after finally transforming back into their original forms, Cori, along with Akane and Jubei riding on each one of her shoulders, walked up to the edge of the lake where they saw Lee sitting next to Tsuchi, who for some reason had her tail covering his eyes.

"Tsuchi! Lee-senpai!" called Cori cheerfully.

"CORI-CHAN!" exclaimed Lee in surprise, jumping to his feet in delight. "W-what brings you here?" he asked all of a sudden.

Cori looked at the boy and giggled in amusement. "Well that's a silly question, we're supposed to be training together today aren't we?" she replied, smiling at the boy in amusement, causing Lee to turn beet red as steam erupted from his head.

Jubei and Akane looked at each other incredulously. _"Idiot..."_ they both said at the same time.

Cori looked at the two cats on her shoulders. "Did you two say something?"

"Not a word!" the two cats said looking away. It was about then, Akane realized something.

"Ne, Tsuchi-neesan, where's Zakuro-sama?" she asked.

At that moment, a splash was heard as Zakuro-sama came propelling out of the lake like a dolphin. She flipped once in the air and landed gracefully on her feet. Zakuro wore a one piece violet swimsuit that looked exactly like tank top she wore everyday. **(Check Zakuro Nekojiwa on my profile and imagine her without the black pants or gauntlets.)** All three members of team Gai blushed greatly at Zakuro's appearance. Tenten appeared fascinated as she checked out Zakuro's lovely figure. Kaori and all the cats plus Tsuchi just looked at her impassively.

"Oh my!" said Cori giggling as she covered her mouth to hide the amused smile she was getting from seeing the boys faces.

Hikari on the other hand, blushed greatly as her jaw dropped open in shock. "ONEE-SAMA! HAVE YOU NO SHAME APPEARING LIKE THAT?" she cried out jabbing a finger at her sister.

Zakuro rolled her eyes as she pushed strands of wet hair from her face. "Whatever... anyway it's about you guys got here, it was getting boring..." said Zakuro.

"DON'T IGNORE ME!"

"Thanks Tsuchi," said Zakuro as the cougar walked up to her master with a saffron colored towel. Zakuro quickly dried her long hair with it and placed it around her shoulders like a shawl. "Now that you guys are here, let's get down to business shall we?" she said rubbing her hands together as she walked about 10 metres from the lake. Zakuro quickly began forming a few hand seals before stopping with the ox seal. _"Nekojiwa style: Earth Manipulation Jutsu!" _the woman said slamming both hands on the ground.

Suddenly, about 12 stone columns about Zakuro's height sprung from the ground in pairs of two. Both lines were placed a few feet from each other, but the columns were lined closely together. Zakuro then dusted her hands and jabbed her fingers at the two boys. "You two, in front of the pillars now!" she commanded.

"HAI!" the two boys replied and stood in front of the pillars quickly, looking at their substitute teacher expectantly. The girls looked on curiously.

"I want you boys to break the pillar at the end from where you are," she said.

"Huh?" everybody asked in confusion.

"You heard me, I want you two to try and break the pillar at the end from exactly where your standing."

The two boys looked at each other and shrugged before taking their stances. Tenten noticed Neji's stance was different from the basic Jyuuken stance than usual.

"That stance is for-" she began to mutter.

"BEGIN!" yelled Zakuro.

_"KAITEN!"_ yelled Neji as he dispelled chakra from his body and began to spin like a top, destroying his line of pillars in seconds.

Rock Lee on the other hand punched and kicked his way through the pillars towards the end. Both boys finished at the same time as they stood at the end of the rubble they created. The triplets and cats looked at the boys in wonder. "Wow..." they all said.

Suddenly, two loud slaps were heard followed by yelps of pain from the boys as Zakuro slapped them upside their heads. "ITAI!" they yelled again as Zakuro pinched their earlobes and pulled hard, not letting go. She had a pissed off look at on her face that made the girls shiver in fright.

"Weren't you two listening?" she demanded. "I said destroy the end pillar from where you guys were standing! Did I say you guys can break the other pillars?"

"But you never said they couldn't," said Hikari.

In a flash, Zakuro was in front of the girl, pulling her cheeks hard. "Don't you dare smart-mouth me, Missy!" she growled.

Hikari squealed in pain as she felt her cheeks being pulled hard. Neji and Lee looked at the teenager while rubbing their sore ears. "But isn't it common sense to break the other pillars to get to the end?" asked Neji in annoyance.

Zakuro whipped around and looked at them. "There's a time for common sense and a time for nonsense," said Zakuro sternly. "Yes, it's important to think before you act but sometimes when in battle there won't be time to think things through! You have to move on impulse and put your trust in luck!"

Everybody looked at the woman with wide eyes feeling enlightened by her is until she said "But that's not the point of this training."

"GAH!" everybody went falling over anime style.

The woman nodded to Tsuchi, who returned the nod and slammed a large paw on the ground, causing three rows of pillars to grow out from the ground. Zakuro then walked up to the center row and took up a stance. "The main point of this training controlling your chakra."

Team Gai looked at the woman as if she was crazy. "Why are we going through such basic training?" demanded Neji in annoyance. "We already have excellent chakra control!"

"Oh?" asked Zakuro raising her eyebrows at the boy's confidence. "Alright then Princey, if you think your control is so good, can you this?" she asked as she spun around once one foot.

"HIIIIIYAA!" she yelled as she kicked the pillar as hard as she could. Her bare foot went smack against the surface of the pillar, the impact so hard that it vibrated in the air. For about 30 secs there was no reaction. None of the pillars broke despite Zakuro's seemingly strong kick. Team Gai raised eyebrows at her skeptically. "HAH!" yelled Zakuro.

All of a sudden, the two teams felt a strong wave of force slamming in to them as the pillar right at the end of the row exploded into rubble. Strangely enough, all the the other pillars, even the one Zakuro kicked, were still perfectly intact. Everybody quickly shielded their eyes from the flying bits of rock. Zakuro put down her leg and smiled at the boys. "And that's how you do it, if you can control your chakra perfectly, you can even do this," Zakuro said, snapping her fingers.

The kids quickly shielded themselves again as they saw Zakuro's row of pillars exploded simultaneously at random. Team Gai stared in shock as their jaws dropped right open. "Leaves ya' kinda speechless, don't it?" asked Kaori who looked obviously pleased at their reactions despite her trying her best to hide her smile.

"Now why don't you go ahead and try it while I handle girls," said Zakuro as she simply picked up Neji and Rock Lee, who were still stiff with shock, and placed them in front of the two remaining rows of pillars. Gesturing to the girls, Zakuro made her way to lake's edge and handed her towel to Tsuchi. "I'll right back."

This prompted the girls to change into their swimsuits. Tenten and the girls began to remove their head bands and other jewelry. Tenten watched in interest as the triplets proceeded to take of their shackles. The triplets placed their hands on either shackle which immediately glowed with chakra and expanded large enough for them to slip off their shackles. The triplets then took off their chokers and placed them on the ground with their other stuff before proceeding to take off their jackets. Boys quickly turned their heads to look. Lee's eyes widened as his face turned red watching Cori take of her jacket. _"Pretty..."_ he muttered not before yelping in pain as he felt a sharp sting in his leg. He looked down to see Jubei retracting her claws.

"Please don't look at Cori-sama with such perverted eyes, Lee-dono," said Jubei.

Lee looked the cat with a dramatic grief-stricken face before leaning his head on the pillar in depression. _'Perverted she calls me...'_

Neji on the other hand noticed something else_._ Peeking from under Hikari's top were three visible pinkish red scars slashed diagonally to the left. On both Kaori's shoulders were old burn scars shaped like hands and Cori's arms were covered visible with cuts that have long since healed. Finally his eyes rested on Zakuro herself. It was only fleeting, but he saw that the jonin herself had nasty jagged scars on her left wrist. You probably wouldn't noticed at all considering how the scars were usually covered with shackles and jackets.

* * *

"Wake up Yue," said Kaori.

Suddenly, a bulge in Kaori's hood shifted and out poked a gray fluffy head. _'So that's where Yue's been hiding...' _thought Tenten as the kitten gave a great big yawn and jumped out of Kaori's hood to the grass.

Kaori quickly took off her jacket and folded it neatly on the ground. Yue didn't even hesitate to circle about on the jacket before kneading it with her paws before sleeping. The sisters then took of their sashes and proceeded to take of their shorts revealing them to be wearing bikini bottoms before taking off their shoes. Tenten undid her hair buns and braided them into two pigtails before she too took off her Chinese shirt, pants and shoes. The sisters looked at Tenten with wide eyes.

"What a cute swimsuit senpai!" exclaimed Hikari and Cori.

_(flashback)_

_Inside the changing room, it only took Tenten a few minutes to put on the swimsuit. She looked at herself in the mirror from the front and back. "This is..."_

_"Hey Tenten! Hurry up, I wanna see!" called Ino impatiently._

_The curtain of the dressing room drew back to reveal Tenten wearing a snow white Oriental-styled one piece swimsuit with a Chinese styled neckline complete with Chinese buttons. It had crimson trimmings with a small patch of floral patterns on her left shoulder. Needless to say, she looked good._

_Ino whistled in surprise. "I thought you'd look good in it but this is just gorgeous! I think Neji-kun is going to go gaga when he see's you in that!" she exclaimed._

_Tenten quickly rushed forward and covered Ino's mouth while glaring at the girl with a red face. **"I'm only getting a swimsuit because I need one, Hyuuga Neji has nothing to do with this...am I clear?"** hissed Tenten. **"Now, if I let you breathe, promise me you would not say anything embarrassing?"**  
_

_Ino quickly nodded her head since she was beginning to feel smothered by Tenten's hand over her breathing nodded in satisfaction before releasing her hand, letting Ino take in a deep breath._

"Alright girls enough with the flashbacks," said Zakuro sharply as she stood at the edge of the lake. In a small pile next to her on the ground were four weight belts. (The kind used for diving) Zakuro gestured to the girls to follow her into the lake, which they did. Kaori re-tied her hair into a low ponytail while Hikari tied her hair into a pair of low ponytails.

The girls began to wade after Zakuro deeper and deeper until they were up to their necks and were forced to dog paddle since they can't feel the bottom any more. Zakuro however, remained only half submerged in the water with her upper torso still remaining nice and dry until the waist. This confused Tenten as they were practically in the middle of the lake, which is extremely deep. "Excuse me," said Tenten briefly as she held her breath and stuck her head under water. Even though it was slightly blurry, Tenten could make out Zakuro's legs moving at an incredibly fast rate. Suddenly an air bubble was released from Tenten's mouth as she quickly popped up for air. "Sugoi!" she spluttered wiping the water from her face.

Zakuro smiled at the girl. "If you haven't guessed by now, our training is going to focus particularly on leg strength because believe it or not, our legs are our greatest weapon," she said as she swam back to shore with the girls following closely behind.

"I thought it was a woman's tears?" asked Tenten the moment the girls got back to shore.

Zakuro turned around sharply and stared at the girl so intensely that Tenten shrank. "A woman's tears maybe a strongest weapon, but trust me, a woman's legs are the deadliest of them all!" she said jabbing a finger at an intimidated Tenten.

The triplets all looked at their sister with large eyes and applauded. "That's Zakuro-oneesama for you!"

Tenten looked at the girls in disbelief and sweat-dropped._ 'I think there's something wrong with these girls...'_

"Anyway, put these belts on and get back in the water!" commanded the older woman.

The girls quickly did so with Zakuro putting on her own. Once again, the girls swam out into the lake but this time to a level where the water came up to their necks but they could still feel the bottom. "Listen up, right now each of are wearing at least 20 kg of weights on your waists. I want you to tread water until you can keep at least your upper body above the surface, like this," explained Zakuro as she began to demonstrate by kicking her legs vigorously at such a face pace that she began to rise out of the water until her waistline. "You got it?"

"HAI!" replied all the girls as they began to paddle their legs furiously. It proved to be a lot harder since the weights were dragging them down making it difficult to keep even their heads above the water.

Zakuro nodded as she swam back to shore to check on the guys. Meanwhile, Tsuchi had gotten a hold of the kittens and was making them push large rocks up an inclined slope (Tsuchi's doing) with their hind legs. "NYOH! Tsuchi-san! Couldn't you have made the rocks just a little smaller?" asked Akane in protest as she struggled with her rock.

"No," the cougar replied flat out. "Now quit complaining and start pushing kitten!"

"You suck, cougar!"

"Piss off, brat!" retorted Tsuchi as the cougar and kitten glared into each other's eyes until sparks were produced.

"Tsuchi-san! Akane-chan! Please stop-nyanyu!" cried out Jubei, frantically waving her paws while Yue simply took the opportunity to close her eyes and sleep.

* * *

Neji struck the pillar crying out in frustration. Over and over, he and Lee had been striking the pillars only to have them so much as crack. "So how's it going boys?" asked Zakuro as she walked up to the guys, squeezing water out of her wet hair.

"Fine, just fine..." Neji replied through gritted teeth as he struck the pillar again.

Zakuro raised her eyebrows at the curt reply but said nothing. She just stood, silently watching the guys trying to break the pillars. "You guys haven't figured it out yet have you?"

A vein pulsed in Neji's forehead while Lee nodded his head in shame. Zakuro heaved a huge sigh. "Alright, I'll show the move again, this time pay attention. Neji, Byakugan, now."

"Hai," said the boy as Neji and Rock Lee stood some distance behind. _"Byakugan!"_ exclaimed Neji activating his kekkei genkai.

_(Byakugan Vision)_

_Through Neji's eyes, the boy could see Zakuro gathering large amounts of chakra in her right leg. He watched as the woman spun around on one foot and struck the pillar in front of her with her right foot. What happened next was fascinating; as hard as Zakuro struck the pillar, the large amount of chakra shot out of her leg and into the pillar but it didn't stop there. Apparently, the force Zakuro used was strong enough to push her chakra into the next three following pillars evenly. The boy's eyes grew wider as he saw the chakra bouncing about inside the stone pillars like crazy._

_"HAH!" he heard Zakuro scream. Instantly as if on cue, the spontaneous movement of the chakra expanded and literally caused pillars to explode in random order._

* * *

"Sugoi!" both boys exclaimed as they shielded their faces from the blast._  
_

"You saw it right?" asked Zakuro flipping her hair out of her face.

"Yeah, it looked like the chakra was released in such a way that it continued to move rapidly to the point it becomes combustible," related Neji.

"Well... you could say that Princey..." said Zakuro brushing dirt of her swim suit.

"Please stop calling me that..."

"With that as your clue, please carry on! Zakuro-chan signing out! Peace!" she said pirouetting away, ignoring Neji's words.

"Zakuro-sensei, you're the coolest!" cried out Lee in admiration.

"You betcha' Junior!" Zakuro voice came sailing back from a distance.

_'What a weird woman...'_ thought Neji in exasperation.

* * *

R.F: Ja-ja! I'm finally done with this chapter! I apologize if some of you found it boring but don't worry! Tomorrow is going to mission day for the triplets! But what's this? They're not doing it together?

Tune in for the next chapter! Chapter 14: We're not doing the same mission? See you then- desu!

Kaori: What's with the perky 'desu!' all of a sudden?

Yue: Sugar Rush from chocolate...

R.F: * Spins rapidly on one foot* WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE~!


	16. Special Corner 3

_**NEKOJIWA SPECIAL CORNER! START!!!!**_

_* A giant water tank appears on stage with different colored tropical fish swimming in it* *Audience looks on as Raven's Familiar comes into view underwater wearing a red swimsuit sitting in what looks like a giant hamster ball with paddles sticking out the side* _

_*Crowd cheers*_

R.F:HI Minna! This is R.F. coming to you live from the Aqua Bubble! _*Pats hamster ball thing from inside*_ Welcome to Nekojiwa Special Corner, the segment where we take some time off to look at the members of the Nekojiwa clan and such! Without further ado, the next Nekojiwa triplet we're going to show is......WAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!

_*Starts screaming and running like crazy in the Aqua Bubble so that it starts moving away quickly as a shark begins to chase R.F._* _*Attached to it's tail was a large banner with Cori Nekojiwa's and Jubei's photo.*_

WHO PUT A FRICKIN' SHARK IN HERE?????!!!!!!

* * *

**_Cori Nekojiwa's Profile appears on a special projector...._**

**Cori Nekojiwa, 12 yrs old**

**Introduction Line: The Meganekko Medic-nin, Nekojiwa Cori-desu!**

**Nicknames: Cori-chin! (Occasionally by Hikari), Cori-chan (General nickname), Cori-sama (the cats)**

**Born: 31st July**

**Ninja rank: Genin**

**Heavy Weapon: Water Demon Reaper**

**Close Combat Weapon: Claw Fans**

**Agility Weapon: Cori Batons**

**Role: Team Medic for Team Neko**

**Astrological Sign: Leo**

**Favorite colour: Spring Green**

**Element Affinity: Water**

**Position in Family: Youngest Nekojiwa Triplet**

**Marital Status: Single**

**Relatives: Oldest sister (Zakuro), elder sisters (Hikari and Kaori),Mother (Fuu Tomoyo), Father (Shouta)**

**Familiar: Suiton no Jubei (Jubei of the Water)**

**Personality: Very Cheerful, Polite, Optimistic, Tranquil, Sweet, Smart but is quite clueless sometimes.... **

**Catchphrases (s): Zettai Daijoubu Dayo! ( Everything will surely be alright) If life gets you down, just look up and smile!**

**Laughs: Covers mouth while laughing**

**Sidenotes : Cori is a meganekko who is constantly smiling no matter what the situation. She suffers from a split personality who she converses with occasionally. Although a generally peaceful girl, she becomes a demon when she gets pissed off.**

* * *

**Suiton no Jubei**

**Born: 31st July**

**Breed: Mix bred (Part cat, part tiger)**

**Type: Nin Cat**

**Owner: Cori Nekojiwa**

**Personality: Very cheerful like Cori but more aware of surroundings. Personality is somewhat child like and likes to get fussed over. Has a secret Dark Side.**

* * *

_*R.F. appears without the Aqua Bubble wearing a special underwater mask so that she can talk and breathe underwater*_

And that's all we have for now, see ya!

*_Swims away towing the Aqua Bubble with the unconscious shark inside*_


	17. We're not doing the same mission!

_**Chapter 14: We're not doing the same Mission?! (Kaori's story part 1)**_

_**

* * *

**_

_**(Author's Note: Chapter based on the Katabami Gold mine arc)**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, if I did, the triplets would SO have a place in this!)

* * *

**_

Training with Team Gai ended early in the evening that day as Neji, Lee and Tenten were called off on an delivery mission to a neighboring village.

"We haven't been on mission since we got here," complained Hikari as the four sisters flew home riding together on Tsuchi since the kittens were too wiped out to transform and slept soundly in their arms.

"Well, we have only been here for like what, 3 days? I'm not surprised," said Zakuro as she pushed a few hairs out of her eyes.

When the girls reached home, they immediately went to bed early since they were so tired. The sisters slept soundly for the night... except for Kaori. That night, while everyone else was sleeping peacefully, Kaori shifted uncomfortably in her futon, a pained expression appearing on her sleeping face. _"R-raika-sensei...."_ she murmured.

* * *

_**Kaori's Dream**_

_8 year old Kaori walked along a dark hallway, her foot steps echoing in the air. She was dressed in a small miko outfit, the pants and trimmings colored blue. Her hair was a lot shorter too. "Raika-sensei! Where are you? Anyone?!" she called out, fear rising in her voice.  
_

_Suddenly a ghastly shriek was heard. "Raika-sensei!" cried out young Kaori running into the darkness._

_The scene changed to an open field. Kaori saw a man standing a distance away from her, his face in the shadows. Behind him were the dead bodies of two miko. Blood dripped from his spiked swords as he walked towards a young miko whose back was turned to Kaori. Her arms were spread out in an attempt to shield the girl. Like the man she also had long dark green hair. "Leave her alone, please Onii-sama!" she pleaded desperately as she stood her ground. _

_"Raika, step aside, why should you protect an impure being like her?!"_

_"Kaori is not impure! She's just different!"_

_"SHE'S HAS THOSE CURSED POWERS!!!!"_

_"They're abilities she was born with, Onii-sama! She was blessed by the Thunder Beast, not cursed! She just needs to learn how to control them!"_

_"THE GOD RAIJIN-SAMA WOULD NEVER LET HIS BEAST TOUCH THAT IMPURE DEMON BEHIND YOU!!!!!!" the man yelled, raising his sword to strike Kaori.  
_

_"KAORI-CHAN!" screamed the woman, turning around and shielding the little girl at the last moment. Blood flew and spattered Kaori's face as the young girl gasped in horror as the young miko fell to the ground dead with a bloody slash across the back of her body.  
_

_**"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"**_ _shrieked Kaori in despair__, clutching her head as a burst of electricity was shot out of her small body__ and formed a giant beast in the air.  
_

* * *

_"SENSEEEEIII!!!!"_ screamed Kaori, waking up with a start. The girl panted hard as tears ran down her face. Her sisters and the kittens were miraculously sound asleep despite the scream. Kaori curled up into a ball and buried her face into her knees. She remained in that position for about 2 mins when she suddenly got up and grabbed her jacket which she hung on a coat hangar. She then walked up to the open bedroom window and climbed out, scaling the wall outside to the roof where she lay down and looked at the full moon in the sky. A memory of her childhood flooded back to her.

........

_"Raika-sensei!" called a six year old Kaori dressed in her miko outfit. It was night time and the area was illuminated by the full moon and stars in the sky. A pretty dark green haired young woman dressed in miko garb turned around to look at the little girl running up to her."The other miko told me you wanted to see me?"_

_The woman smiled as she knelt down to Kaori's eye level. "Look here Kaori-chan, I have a present for you," she said as she lifted her sleeve to reveal a small silvery gray bundle of fur with still closed eyes._

_Young Kaori's own eyes began to widen greatly as a smile appeared on her face. "A kitten!" she exclaimed._

_"Nyu~!" mewed the kitten as Raika lifted the purring feline out of her sleeve and handed it Kaori, who held it close to her body gently. Kaori looked at her mentor._

_"What's it's name?"_

_Raika smiled at the kid. "I don't know Kaori-chan, she's your kitten."  
_

_Kaori's smile grew even bigger as she lifted the kitten in air. The light from the moon reflected of the kitten's silvery fur beautifully. "Hmmm....you do look pretty in the moonlight....how about Tsuki?" asked Kaori. **(Translate: Moon)**_

_The kitten seem to frown a little and shook it's head._

_"Mitsuki?"**(Translate: Full Moon)**_

_Again, the kitten shook it's head._

_"Mikazuki?" __**(Translate: Crescent Moon)**_

_The kitten frowned a little more and shook it's head in disapproval. Kaori also began to frown as she brought the kitten down. "Oh.. what should I name you?"_

_"How about Yue?" suggested Raika._

_Kaori and the kitten looked at her teacher in confusion. "Yue?"_

_Raika nodded and smiled. "How about it? It means 'Moon' in Chinese."_

_Kaori closed her in thought. "Yue...I like the sound of it... what about you?" the girl asked the kitten bringing it to eye-level._

_"NYA~!" the kitten meowed happily as it nodded her head in approval__._

_Kaori smiled happily as she cuddled Yue, making her purr. "Yue!"_

_"Nya~!"_

_..........._

"Kaori-sama?" called a familiar voice, making the girl bolt upright to see Yue pulling herself up on the roof.

"Oh, Yue it's you..."

"You cried out her name in your sleep, did you had that nightmare again, about _**him?**_"

Kaori looked down and nodded slightly as Yue climbed into her mistress's lap and lay her head and paws against the girl's chest. "Daijoubu...." the kitten said.

Kaori wrapped her arms around the kitten and hugged her as tears began to fall from her face. As she cried, Kaori's lips parted as she took in a small breath.

_**"Kimi wo....suki ni natte, dorekurai tatsu no kana?..."**_ she began to sing softly. **_"Kimochi....fukurande yuku bakari de....."_**

**Kaori:**_** Kimi wa.... Kono omoi kidzuiteiru no kana?**_  
_**Ichido mo kotoba ni wa Shitenai kedo.....**_

_**Yuki no.... youni Tada shizukani  
Furitsumori Tsudzukete yuku..**_

Kaori looked up towards the moon, her tears glistening in the moonlight as a night wind blew past her making her long, blue, untied hair float gracefully in the breeze. She closed her eyes and a flashback of her sensei singing the song while hugging a crying chibi Kaori flashed in her mind.

* * *

_(Flashback)_

**_Raika_: _Hold ......me tight, konna omoi nara_**  
**_Dareka wo suki ni naru kimochi_**  
**_Shiritaku Nakatta yo_**  
**_I.... love you, Namida tomaranai..._**

_(end flashback)_

**_

* * *

_**

**_"Konnan ja kimi no koto, s_****_hirazuni ireba, yokatta yo....."_**sang Kaori as her melodious voice echoed and floated away on the night breeze.

* * *

The next morning, the triplets and Kiba found themselves getting summoned to the Hokage tower while Zakuro went off to explore Konoha since Team Gai had came back really early in the morning and wanted to catch up on some sleep.

"Why, Tsunade-sama?!" demanded Hikari angrily while her sisters, Kaori and Cori held her back by the arms. "Why do we have to be separated? We're triplets! I refuse to do a mission without my sisters!"

"Hikari-sama...."said Akane looking at the girl worriedly.

"Hikari-kun, calm down!" said Kiba, helped the sisters hold back the red head.

Tsunade frowned at the girl, evidently pissed. First Anko stole the last stick of dango on her plate, then Naruto suddenly brings in a new mission, now a some red head pre teen is trying to complain? The Lady Hokage won't stand for it!

"All right, listen up you little brat. Let me tell you how things work around here," she began to say in controlled voice. "Missions are done by ninjas who are suited for the job. I don't care if they're, brothers, sisters, cousins or even their Grandma. So when I say you three are going on separate missions, YOU ARE GOIN' ON SEPARATE MISSIONS MISSY!"she screamed loudly, causing the sisters to flinch.

"Yes Ma'am!" squeaked Hikari, calming down.

"Good, let's get down to business shall we?" said Tsunade, smiling as she opened a file. "Nekojiwa Hikari!"

"Hai!"

"I heard you have a way with animals so you might find this C-rank mission to your liking, you, Kiba and Aburame Shino are heading out to the Flower Village just west of the fire country. Apparently there's a bunch of wild bears terrorizing the village. Shino should be waiting for you at the gate."

"Yes Ma'am!" said Kiba and Hikari before running out the door followed by Akane and Akamaru.

"Nekojiwa Cori, you're mission is with Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino. There have been reports of an underwear thief / Peeping Tom lurking around the public bath houses, find the pervert and beat him good."

A glint flashed on Cori's glasses as she smiled. "Roger that-desu wa!" she said, cheerfully saluting. "Jubei!" she called as Cori turned to leave.

"Hai!" answered the kitten jumping on to Cori's shoulder as the two left the room, leaving Kaori and Tsunade together. Suddenly, Kaori's hood wriggled and Yue's head popped out.

"So what's our mission Tsunade-sama?" the kitten asked.

"I'm getting to that, come in boys!" called Tsunade. Kaori turned around to Neji and Rock Lee followed by a blond whiskered face was then Kaori's pupils dilated into cat eyes. _'He has a unique energy within him...it almost feels like Gaara's.....'_

"Neji-senpai, Lee-senpai and.....who are you?" asked Kaori with question marks coming out of her head. The boy grinned at her good naturedly.

"Heh! My name is Uzumaki Naruto! Yoroshiku!"

"I'm Nekojiwa Kaori and this is Kage no Yue.." said the girl pointing to herself and her kitten.

"Yoroshiku onegaishimasu..." said Yue, bowing her head.

Tsunade coughed loudly to gain their attention. "Now then, earlier Naruto brought in three men from the Katabami Gold Mine who requested a mission. The Katabami Gold Mines was a prominent mining village in the Land of Rivers. However, half a year ago a group of men calling themselves the Kurosuki Family arrived and claimed to protect the village and took control of it. It also seems that the residents are getting murdered with no reason."

"That's terrible!" exclaimed Lee outraged.

Yue could feel her master going tense and the sound of the name 'Kurosuki'. She looked up to see Kaori narrowing her eyes.

"Your mission is to escort the three men once they have recovered back to the gold mines and take care of that Family!" ordered the Lady Hokage. "It should be simple enough, those guys are probably some hoodlums out for money."

A look of distaste appeared on Naruto's face. "Why would you call me out on such an easy mission?!"

Kaori could see the woman's eye twitch as a dark look appeared on her face. "Who do you think you are?!"

"I've got better things to do! Like train and search for Sasuke!"

Suddenly, Tsunade reached and grabbed the boy's shirt and pulled towards her desk angrily. "You force your way into missions when I don't call you. You're just a Gennin! I pick the missions, not you!"

Everyone else in the room looked stunned for a moment until Kaori decided to step forward. "If I may, Tsunade-sama, I'm sure Naruto-kun does not mean to be rude, so would you please let him go?" asked the girl as politely as she could.

"Hmph! Fine!" said Tsunade. "But you're in charge of this brat!" she said tossing Naruto to Kaori who caught him."Neji, you're in charge, now get going!"

"Yes, Ma'am!" replied Neji, quickly hightailing out of there after sensing a huge feeling of rage seeping out from the buxom woman. Lee, Naruto and Kaori quickly followed suit. It was definitely a smart move because the group was barely even a metre away from the door when they heard Tsunade scream in rage followed by the sound of glass breaking. Kaori let out a long whistle. "That was was a close, nya-nyu..." muttered Yue poking her head out of Kaori's hood. The girl began to hurry a bit down the hall until she suddenly collided with someone who happened to be standing at the exit. The both of them fell to the floor with the other person on top of the girl while Yue got flung out of Kaori's hood.

"Gomenasai..." Kaori muttered.

"N-no... it's my fault," answered a familiar voice as the person began to push himself of the ground. It was then Kaori found herself looking up at Rock Lee. She glanced over his shoulder to see Naruto and a pink-haired girl looking at them from the door frame. Suddenly, a devious thought came into her mind. Quickly, a seductive smile played on her lips as she forced a blush to appear on her cheeks.

"Ara...Lee-senpai...you're not planning on getting naughty with me right here, are you~nya?" she said in a mock seductive voice. A feeling of amusement welled up inside her when she saw an explosion of red appear on Lee's face. Just the reaction she was hoping for. She could see Naruto and his friend's face blushed red as well when she glanced over her senior's shoulder a second time.

"What do you think you're doin?!" asked Naruto and Sakura in shock.

"N-Naruto-kun! S-sakura-san!" exclaimed Lee in shock as he quickly jumped off Kaori. "I was just-...and then Kaori-san.....and then she-AAAAAAAARRRRRGH!!!!!!" screamed Lee in frustration when he couldn't think of anything to say in his defense._'Now Sakura-san will never like me!!!!'

* * *

_

_**(R.F: *watches scene on a moniter in a secret room* TWO-TIMER!!!!!!!)

* * *

**_Kaori stood up and dusted her clothes before folding her hands before her like a proper lady and bowed politely. "Nice to meet you, I'm Nekojiwa Kaori . You're Haruno Sakura-san, yes?" said the girl politely while was Lee was still trying to think of a good defense in the back ground.

The pink haired girl sweat dropped at Kaori's sudden change in demeanor. "Y-yeah....we've met...."

Naruto looked at Kaori in surprise. "Hey! How come you remember her name and not mine?"

Kaori looked the boy for a moment before shrugging. "God knows...."

_'What kind of an answer is that?!' _Naruto and Sakura thought.

"SAKURA-SAN, I'M INNOCENT!!!!!" yelled Lee desperately when Kaori suddenly placed a hand on his shoulder just as Yue jumped back into her arms.

"Relax senpai, I was just messing with you......" she said as she began walking down the stairs while two ninja she recognized as the watchmen were walking up the stairs carrying a large green chair which she recognized to be Lady Tsunade's. Her eyes widened slightly at the sight of the large bloody bump on one of the men's forehead which match the the large bloody spot on the chair. "Ouch.." she and Yue said at the same time.

"Tell me about it!" replied the injured ninja as he began muttering a string of swear words about the Lady Hokage while he and his partner carried the chair back into the building.

Kaori shook her head and began walking back in the direction of the Inuzuka household to get her stuff. _'She said the Kurosuki family..Maybe...No! It can't be **him**...I could have sworn he died back then...._' thought the girl. Suddenly, a gruesome image of her blood spattered younger self standing over the man's 'dead' body flashed in her mind, her expression remained stoic. Yue looked at her mistress's hardened face worriedly.

_'Kaori-sama...' _"My lady_, _if you don't mind_, _I would like to explore a bit, I shall return to inform you of the time," said Yue, bowing her head low in respect.

Kaori nodded, prompting Yue to hop off Kaori's shoulder and onto a nearby roof top until she was out of Kaori's sight. The girl shrugged and walked away casually. Meanwhile, just as Yue was about to move to another roof top, she noticed Lee and Naruto walking towards_ Ichiraku's Ramen_. Her sharp ears managed to catch a few words about the Kurosuki Family. Thinking about Kaori, Yue made sure to stay out of sight as she followed the two boys by jumping from rooftop to rooftop.

* * *

"Ok, so I met two of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, what of it?"asked Naruto while he chewed on his ramen , unbeknown to the boys, Yue had sat herself carefully on the edge of Ichiraku's rooftop and leaned over to eavesdrop on the conversation.

"If Raiga is indeed one of them, he might have some information on Uchiha Itachi, the guy who was with Hoshigaki Kisame," explained Lee as he took another slurp of his noodles.

Yue narrowed her eyes as she recognized one of the names mentioned by the boy.

"What's your point?" asked Naruto.

Rock Lee sighed exasperatedly. "WHO is looking for Itachi?"

A light bulb appeared abve Naruto's head. "Ah! Sasuke!"

"That's right! There's a chance we might get a clue about Sasuke's whereabouts!" said Lee confidently, giving Naruto a shiny smile. At that moment, Yue decided that she had heard enough and left quietly. While the kitten bounded over the rooftops, Yue could sense that her mistress is going to be facing a certain ghost of her past, and unfortunately, that ghost would be alive....

* * *

Kaori leaned against the tree trunk behind her and looked up at the foliage of leaves shielding her from the sunlight. Her backpack lay on her lap with her hands on it, her legs dangling from the branch she sat on. Kaori absentmindedly began to hum last night's song out loud. Suddenly, a gust of wind caused the tree to shake. It was then Kaori sensed another presence sitting on the branch with her. **_"Konnichiwa!"_** said a cheerful male voice.

Kaori bent her head down to see a medium size young man with long green hair and lightly tanned skin wearing a long dark brown robe who smiled at her. "Oh, Taiboku-san...konnichiwa.." **(For those who don't remember, please refer to the previous chapter)**

_**"Anything wrong? You seem down my friend,"**_ asked the man in concern.

Kaori smiled and shifted her gaze upwards again. "Do I?" she said, thinking for a while. "...Hey, Taiboku-san, have you ever feared that something from your past might return to haunt you?"

The strange man closed his eyes and thought for a while. **_"I think that's something we all have worried about before...but I've lived long enough to realize that dwelling on the past isn't going help, the only way to get past that fear is when you look towards the future..."_**

"Wow...that's deep....." commented Kaori bluntly.

Taiboku chuckled in amusement when he heard the sound of approaching footsteps. "Kaori-san? What are you doing up there?" called a familiar voice.

Kaori and her friend looked down to see Neji Hyuuga looking up at them, or rather, at Kaori. "Senpai?...."

**_"That boy from yesterday, no? He seems to be desiring your presence."_**

Kaori cast a deadpanned expression at Taiboku. "Don't make him sound like he's some crazed lover...we have a mission later on that's all."

"Let's go! Shizune-san said that the clients were well enough to be discharged!" called Neji.

"Hai!" Kaori replied before turning to Taiboku. "I have to go now, till next time...." she said jumping down from the branch and landing on her feet.

_**"Sayonara, Kaori-san," **_said Taiboku, giving the girl a small wave.

Just then Kaori heard a rush of wind and turned around to see a swirl of leaves floating away. Neji followed the girl's gaze only to see nothing, confusing him greatly but he decided to shrug it off as he and Kaori made their way to the gate.

* * *

After taking a few shortcuts over buildings, it wasn't long until Neji and Kaori met up with the three clients as well as Naruto and Lee. Neji began to brief them on the overall objectives of the reason. "We're here to undertake the mission of escorting Rokusuke-san and gang, head to the Katabami Gold mines and eliminate the Kurosuki family."

"There's a restaurant near the gold mine that I know well, let's make that one of our bases," suggested Lee. Neji nodded in approval.

Naruto folded his arms behind his head and turned to Kaori. "BY the way Kaori-chan, what happened to Yue?"

The girl just looked at Naruto with a blank expression before putting two fingers in her mouth and blowing gently. Naruto and the rest of the guys looked at Kaori in curiosity considering there was no sound produced. Suddenly, a gray blur shot down from the top of the gate and landed at Kaori's feet.

"You whistled, Kaori-sama?" asked Yue, bowing her head.

It was about then the clients decided it was time to freak out. _**" THE CAT'S TALKING????!!!........"**_

........

After few minutes of calming the men and explaining to them, the group finally made their move. The group walked the whole forest across the Fire Country with the Katabami men as their guide. Kaori walked at the back of the group in silence, her presence forgotten momentarily amidst the guys talking among themselves. Yue sat on her mistress's shoulder, looking at Kaori's face with concern. After finally crossing a large hill, the group stopped by at a river to break for lunch. Kaori distanced herself away from the group and sat herself on a large boulder, unpacking a bento box for herself and Yue, made by Cori earlier that morning. "Itadakimasu...." she and Yue said, putting their hands/paws together and bowing their heads slightly before eating.

One of the clients ate his rice ball as he glanced over at Kaori. "Your friend isn't very social is she?" he asked.

The three boys followed his gaze. "Oh, Kaori-san? Well, she only just recently moved to our village so we don't know much about her. She hardly talks much..." said Lee taking a sip from his water bottle. "It's probably because she's separated from her sisters."

The other client looked at Lee in surprise. "She has sisters?"

Neji nodded and folded his arms. "Ah, three sisters to be exact, Kaori is the second born of triplets and has an older sister who is a jonin. Apparently, I heard that this is her first mission ever without her sisters."

Two of the men nodded in understanding. "I see...must be hard for her..." the taller of the two said sympathetically.

Just then, Kaori turned her head and gave the group a sharp stare, giving them the willies. _'Crap! I think she heard us!'_ they all thought.

The one called Rokusuke, hurriedly ate his meal and stood up. "Calm down, Rokusuke, these people would liberate our village," said his friend turning his gaze to Naruto who was balancing on an unstable pile of rocks. Rock Lee gaped at Naruto , before declaring "I won't lose!", quickly finishing his rice ball and running up to join Naruto. Quickly, the boy took up a stance and began to shatter a boulder to pieces. Naruto grinned as he caught some of the flying debris coming his way and added it to his rock pile, making it taller. A few of them began flying in the direction towards Kaori who sat meditating. Her back was turned to the rocks coming at her.

"WATCH OUT!" cried out the men in fear.

Suddenly, Kaori stood up and whipped around to face the projectiles while swiftly drawing something out from her jacket. _"Miko Arts: Lightining Barrier!"_ she exclaimed forming a one hand seal with her left hand while holding out a thin yellow piece of paper with characters written on it with her right palm. Blue colored lightning shot out from the paper and formed an arc-like shield in front of her just as the rocks made contact. The rocks instantly disintegrated, the moment they touched the barrier. Once they had disappeared, Kaori deactivated the technique and kept the seal in her jacket. She gave Naruto and Lee a demonic glare as she stepped towards them, her arms sparking with electricity. "_Raiton: Lightining Dancer...."_ she said, shooting lightning bolts from her fingertips at the duo, who began panicking and jumping all over the place to avoid getting shocked.

While the other two men plus Neji gaped in astonishment, Rokusuke apparently didn't care as he clenched his fists angrily. "How long do you guys plan to fool around?!" he asked in annoyance and frustration. "If we hurry, we might be able to save Kanpachi from his grave!"

"Give it up!" said his friend before looking down. "How has it already been since then?....." he asked in remorse.

Neji saw Kaori turned her head to look at Rokusuke. He could have been wrong but he could have sworn he actually saw a sympathetic look flash across her face.

............

After eating, the group finally made a move on again. Rock Lee and Naruto walked a little stiffly while bits of static electricity sparked around them. Yue turned around to face them while riding on Kaori's shoulder again. "Daijobu desu nya?" the kitten asked.

"Never been better....." the two boys replied grinning and giving the kitten two thumbs , Lee began to feel sleepy as his eyes became half closed while his head began to nod. "It feels nostalgic, this sleepiness....." he muttered. " The restaurant is near...."

Kaori glanced back at Lee. "Sleepwalk much, senpai?..."

"I'm alright, I ran down this road sleeping three days straight...."

"Yeah right!" exclaimed Naruto in disbelief.

"It's true, it was a miracle of youth with Gai-sensei...."

Kaori raised her eyebrows. "How lovely...."

"His body must be recalling from then..." analyzed Yue. "Are you sure you'll be alright Lee-dono?"

Lee nodded sleepily. "There's a sweet smell of curry, around here...." he muttered, tilting his head back with his nostrils flaring.

"Curry?" echoed Naruto as his nostrils began to flare. "Now that you mention it..."

"IT'S RIGHT THERE!" exclaimed Lee coming to life once more, jabbing his finger straight ahead. The group followed his finger pointing at a small restaurant in the distance. "The restaurant, 'Curry of Life' is right there!" he exclaimed once more, suddenly dashing full speed ahead towards a small elderly woman splashing water outside the door.

"SANSHOU-BAASAAAAN!!!!" called Lee running.

The woman ears pricked up as she turned around her face showing recognition. "Young boy? Young boy!" she said in surprise and delight.

"LONG TIME NO SEE! I see you're doing well!" said Lee happily scooping up the old lady and twirling about with her as if she weighed nothing. The old woman herself laughed happily.

"Aww...how sweet...don't you just love reunions?" asked Yue playfully glancing up at Kaori.

"Yeah...it's cute..." came a half hearted answer.

Neji then noticed their clients facing a certain mountain. "That mountain is the Katabami gold mine," pointed out one of the men.

Neji, Naruto, Kaori and Yue shifted their gaze towards the said landmark and stared at it briefly before entering the restaurant after Lee and old lady Sanshou. The moment they were inside and made their introductions, the group sat down at a table while the woman began stirring a large pot of curry. While they waited, Lee helped passed by the time by telling everyone how he met old Lady Sanshou and her son once during a training session. In the midst of the story, Yue slinked away to explore the restaurant in secrecy. The kitten found herself going up a flight of stairs to where the old woman lived. Apart from the smell of curry lingering in the air, Yue caught the distinct scent of a young man. It wasn't fresh, it was more stale... which led Yue to realize that the man scent probably belonged to the old woman's son she heard about. "Smells like someone hasn't been hanging around the house much...."muttered Yue to herself. Suddenly her thoughts were interrupted by a shrill whistle that only her cat ears could pick up and bounded back downstairs again.

When she got down, Yue was suddenly hit with an overpowering spicy aroma wafting from the plates of curry rice placed on the table. Yue sneezed a little as she walked up to Kaori, who was eyeing her plate of _**black **_curry uneasily. Kaori and Yue weren't the only ones. The others also looked at their plates warily. Only Lee seemed to be enthusiastic about the meal. "Itadakimasu!" he said as he slowly placed a spoonful of the curry in his mouth.

Everybody watched tensely as Lee remained silent for a while. Suddenly, his face began to glow red as steam erupted from his head. "THIS TASTE GREAT!!!!!" he cried out, throwing his hands in the air before shoving more of the curry rice in his mouth. After seeing his reaction, everyone else decided to try it out as well. Kaori especially, hesitated before putting the dangerous looking meal in her barely even had time to breathe when the clients, Naruto and Neji's instant turned into a shade of florescent red with beads of sweat rolling down their faces.

_**"EEEEEEEEEEEYYAAAAAAAA........!!!!!!!..."**_ were the screams resonating from their mouths as it rang throughout the air.

Yue quickly removed her paws from her ears and sweat dropped heavily as she saw everyone either passed out or half conscious. Well, with the exception of Lee who was still eating enthusiastically and Kaori, who miraculously remained awake as she continued eating while keeping her head bowed. The rest of the gang regained their senses as they stared at Kaori unbelievably.

"Thank you for the meal...."she said politely when she was done.

Lee looked at Kaori and grinned. "So how was it Kaori-san? It's taste great right?"

"Kaori-sama...." said Yue worriedly when Kaori didn't respond for a moment. The rest of the guys looked at her expectantly, tension hanging in the air.

Suddenly, Kaori lifted her head to look at Lee and opened her mouth. Everybody jumped back in shock as flames erupted from her mouth, burning a surprised Rock Lee. "Yes, it tastes absolutely divine....." she said with a Moe-style, teary eyed, flushed face expression and a sparkly background to boot. All the guys in the room widened their eyes and blushed involuntarily.

_'Moe....' _they all thought.

Yue gave a dead panned expression. _"Moe, moe...kyuun...."_ she muttered bluntly, placing her face in her paws.

"BY the way, where is Karashi-kun?" asked Lee, looking at the old woman.

Sanshou gave Lee a sad smile. "Karashi was very inspired by your hard work and became a very bright and energetic boy, but he became to energetic and left for the city...."

_'I knew it...'_thought Yue.

"It's really my fault for pestering him so much about getting stronger. He said he was going to be a man and join the Kurosuki family..."

BAM! The table rattled as Lee slammed his hands on the table. " This is my fault.....Neji, please add the retrieval of Karashi-kun to the mission! We must turn him away from the path of evil!"

Meanwhile, Neji appeared dazed with his Byakugan activated while Kaori tried to pour water in his mouth. Suddenly he snatched the glass out of the girl's hand took large gulps before setting it down." Fine by me... this restaurant will be our base, first we'll go and investigate the village thoroughly, we will create a plan from there."

"HAI!" replied Lee.

"You three will stay here," instructed Neji to the clients. " It will be dangerous if you were spotted by the Kurosuki family."

Two of the clients nodded except for Rokusuke who kept his head low.

* * *

Later that night, while the four genin gathered to discuss their plans, they heard one of their clients yell and burst into their room with a worried look on his face. "Rokusuke..Rokusuke is gone!"

"He must have left for the city himself!" said the other client.

Kaori and Yue looked at each other and nodded. The girl quickly got up and opened the window. "Get on!" said Kaori sharply as Yue jumped out the window.

The boys looked at Kaori as if she were crazy. "Get on what?!" they asked incredulously.

Suddenly there was a loud pop and a small burst of smoke as a large dark shape appeared outside the window. "Me!" said a more womanly voice.

Lee's eyes widened as he ran up and stuck his head out the window to see a large, saber toothed, gray leopard with huge white wings. "I knew it! Yue can transform too, Cori-chan was right!" he exclaimed happily as he climbed onto Yue's back after Kaori.

"Aw! Cool!" exclaimed Naruto in amazement as he got on the leopard's back as well. Neji gaped in surprise but quickly jumped on as well.

"Let's hurry!" he said.

"Roger that!" said Yue as she flapped her wings and flew of into the night. The two clients stared out the window after them in plain shock.

* * *

Meanwhile at the Katabami Gold Mine.....

"Someone is coming....." spoke a young voice from a bundle underneath the cloak of a mysterious man.

"We're going to have to hold another funeral...." said the man in obvious glee as the sky grew darker as they clouds blocked the moon rays from shining through.

* * *

Elsewhere, Kaori placed a hand on her chest and closed her eyes. She could feel her heart hammering against her chest like crazy while fear began to well up inside her. _'Why am I feeling so afraid all of a sudden.....Raika-sensei...please...give me courage....'

* * *

_

_To be continued...._

_**R.F: **So many unanswered questions in this chapter.... who is the mysterious friend Taiboku? How does the name Kurosuki strike Kaori? Just what is Kaori dreading? Stay tuned for the next chapter: Weeping Ghosts...(Kaori's Story part 2)  
_


	18. Weeping Ghosts Kaori's Story part 2

**_R.F: Okay, just before we start there's a few things I would like to mention. First up, the title of the song Kaori sang in the last chapter is called Eternal Snow. Secondly, we will be elaborating a lot of Kaori's abilities in this chapter._**

...

_**R.F: Oh yeah, once again I do not own this anime...goddammit...**_

**_

* * *

_**

_**Chapter 15: Weeping Ghosts... (Kaori's Story Part 2)**_

Thanks to Yue, the group was able to get over the mountain just moments before sunrise. Instead of going straight down, the group decided to stop behind a pile of boulders that over looked the gold mines. Yue quickly changed back and jumped on a nearby rock ledge. "I'll try to sneak in and find Rokusuke-san," suggested the kitten.

Kaori looked at Neji who nodded. "Good, go Yue," commanded Kaori. Yue bowed her head at Kaori and began to bound down the mountain swiftly.

"Smart kitten," commented Neji.

"Thank you," replied Kaori, looking at the building below her. "That must the Kurosuki house..."

"Hey, why don't we just forget about saving Rokusuke and Karashi-kun and just barge in and beat up the Kurosuki family!" suggested Naruto.

"Don't get ahead of yourself..." warned Neji, glancing at the boy, who scowled.

"Ok, so what's the plan?"

"Don't forget we have to take into account of Gai-sensei's info-" Lee began to say.

"If I may..." interjected Kaori. "Now that Yue has gone ahead, she can act as our eyes on the inside...I say we should go in swiftly and get information on the outside..."

The three boys looked at Kaori in surprise. "Ok..." they all agreed.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Kurosuki house, Rokusuke was thrown to the ground trembling in fear as he looked at the six cloaked figures staring at him and chuckling evilly. "Raiga-san, we have captured Rokusuke, one of the three men who left the village!" called one of the men.

Rokusuke heard a door creak open behind him and spun around trembling even more.

"Good work..." said the man known as Raiga as he stepped out in to the open.

"It seems like he asked for help from a ninja village," reported another one of the men.

The shortest man of the lot kicked their prisoner in the face. "Speak up! Where did you go?" he demanded.

"That's enough, newbie.." said Raiga.

"Yes, sir!"

Raiga shifted his eyes to the trembling man on the ground who was really starting to regret running away from the restaurant. "Hey, Rokusuke? We're on good terms with the people around the mine right?"

Rokusuke kept silent and averted his eyes as Raiga continued to speak. "When I heard you and your friends ran away, I was so upset...I started to forget all the good times we had together..."

"I'm so sorry! I won't run again!" pleaded Rokusuke, kow towing many times to the Kurosuki head, who apparently wasn't listening.

"I know, why don't we give you a funeral right now?" he suggested in glee.

"NO! Anything but that!"

"Why? Do you hate funerals?"

"Yes! I don't wanna die yet!"

"Really? Well that's all too bad...I happen to like funerals..." Raiga said with a sadistic glint in his eyes. "Think about it, when people are alive, they insult, hurt and betray each other. But all that hatred just disappears at a funeral...That's when all the good memories start to return.."

"NO!" cried Rokusuke as he tried to run, only to get pinned down by the Kurosuki family.

"Shall we boys?" asked Raiga.

"YEAH!"

While the men carried their victim away, Yue stood on the roof top, watching the whole scene with a growl welling up from the bottom of her throat. _'Raiga...it couldn't be...'_ she thought before disappearing into the air.

* * *

Meanwhile, Kaori, Naruto, Lee and Neji watched from their hiding place as an old man suddenly collapsed to the ground in exhaustion. Four men in dark brown cloaks walked up to the man who looked at them in fear and began to bow his head, his apologies were audible to be heard by the gang. Naruto was about to make a move but was stopped by Kaori who placed a hand on his shoulder. Naruto glared at the girl who shook her head. "Please understand, Neji-senpai is the leader and he is the one who tells us to move."

"But if we don't move, the old man is going to die!"

"Leave this to me, Naruto-kun!" said Lee getting up his hiding spot and dashing the the mountain. Kaori's face faulted.

"Idiot..." she muttered.

Due to Lee's speed, it was only seconds for the boy to reach the old man and knock all four cloaked men out. Lee quickly signalled to the others, who began to climb down. When they reached the foot of the mountain, instead showing gratitude, they found the old man to be twice as afraid, looking at them in despair. "What've you done?"

Naruto smiled good naturedly and held out his flask to offer water, only to have it slapped out of his hands. "Hey! What's wrong with you?"

"Please! Hit me! Kick me! Anything! Knock me out, please!" the old man pleaded desperately, confusing the genin.

"Excuse me?" asked Naruto.

"If you won't, I will!" the old man said as he began hitting his face with his fists.

"Oji-san, please stop," said Kaori calmly as she walked up to the man and held his fists tightly. "You're afraid aren't you?"

"Of course I am! If the Kurosuki family finds out I'm okay, God knows what they'll do to me!"

_**CLANG!**_ The sound of a gong rang out suddenly, causing the man to jump in fear. The rest followed his gaze towards the Kurosuki house.

"What was that? Were we spotted?" asked Neji.

"It's the funeral gong..." replied the old man sadly.

"Funeral?" echoed the others in confusion.

"It's for those who betray the Kurosuki boss, Raiga, he has them buried while they are still alive..."

Suddenly the boys heard a loud thump and looked down to see once calm Kaori on her knees with a shocked expression on her face as she tried to choke out something. Neji's sharp eyes saw small sparks of lightning flashing around the girl. _"K-kurosuki Raiga..." _they heard her mutter.

"Oi, Kaori! Are you okay?" Naruto asked worriedly, grabbing on to her shoulders and was about to shake her when a sharp tingling pain shot up his arms, making the boy jump and yell in pain, snapping her out of her daze with a gasp.

"Naruto-kun! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to!" apologized the girl fervently.

Naruto, Lee and Neji looked at Kaori in surprise. Since the time they met her, this was first time the girl showed genuine emotion in front of them. "I-its cool, Kaori-san...I'm good..." Naruto managed to say, recovering from his shock.

"Kaori-sama!" called Yue as she came running up to her mistress. "You have to hurry! They are going to bury Rokusuke-san, alive!"

Everybody gasped and looked at each other before nodding. "Let's go!" said Neji as the group followed him with Yue leading the way.

It wasn't long until the kitten brought them to what appears to be a grave yard. The group looked around them with horrified expressions at the numerous mounds around them. Quickly ducking behind a particularly large mound, the group poked their heads up a bit to see a group of cloaked men in a funeral procession march carrying a silver coffin on their shoulders. Neji quickly activated his Byakugan to look inside it. "It **is** him, and he's still alive," said Neji after confirming the victim's identity. "If we take care of the guys around him, we could save him."

"Now, we're talking," said Naruto with Lee nodding in agreement.

It was then, Lee noticed tears streaming down Kaori's and Yue's faces."What's wrong?" he asked.

_"I can see them. Everybody is crying...they are pleading for us to save him...it's so sad, they are bounded to the earth..." _whispered Kaori.

"Who?" asked Neji turning to the girl in confusion.

_"The victims, their souls are crying out in agony...the pain is agonizing..."_

"The victims? Y-you mean..." Naruto began to ask in fear.

"Yue.." said Kaori.

"Hai, Kaori-sama..." replied the kitten, who began to glow blue slightly. _"Spirit vision..."_ she muttered as she tapped each of the boys' hands with her paw, leaving a glowing paw print.

The boys had to do everything in their power not to scream as their eyes glowed blue and they began to see pale transparent hands reaching out of the mounds as if trying to get themselves free. The freaked out boys quickly scampered away towards Kaori. "What is this?" Lee demanded, trying to keep his voice low. Suddenly, the disturbing image disappeared as well as the marks on their hands.

"Yue has the ability to force spirit vision on others among other things, since she only lightly tapped you guys the visions didn't last long.." explained Kaori, wiping the tears from her eyes. "As for me, I can already see them naturally..."

"As much as you're freaking me out, we have a client to save!" said Neji as he took out a few smoke bombs and threw them as hard as he could towards the men. The bombs landed at the groups feet and exploded in to smoke, surprising them. The four ninja decided that it was then to make their ambush and jumped out of their hiding places.

The men quickly jumped out of the smoke and threw off their cloaks with the exception of one who began to flee the scene. "GET THEM!" one of them yelled. Blades began to grow out of their gloves as they rushed towards the attacking ninja.

"Kaori, Yue, take out the ones on the right!"

"HAI!" replied the two as they jumped in to the air. They both snarled menacingly as Kaori kicked one of the men in the face while Yue unsheathed her razor sharp claws and slashed another across the face. Kaori landed on all fours and launched herself forward while forming a few hand seals. _"Ninja art: Lightning Dance!"_

"Take this you little bitch!" cried out one of the five men charging at Kaori who swiped at her with his metal claws only to have her disappear into thin air.

"Where'd she go?" the men asked looking around them. Suddenly, Kaori appeared behind one of them and kicked him in the head, only to vanish and strike out again at another. Just like the technique was named, Kaori kept appearing and disappearing like a lightning flash as she beat up her opponents. Yue on the other hand found her self getting cornered to a wall while looking terrified at three Kurosuki members with scratched up faces who chuckled evilly as they began to crack their knuckles. "Payback time, ya' little runt!" one of them said.

"I think not..." said Yue, her terrified expression replaced with a smirk as she jumped up crying_, "Beast Form!"_ before turning into a cloud smoke. A ferocious roar was heard as large gray leopard emerged from the cloud and sank it's teeth into one of the men with a sickening crunch followed by the man's agonizing scream as his shoulder blade got crushed by Yue's powerful jaws.

* * *

_**Note: Yue's Beast form is simply like her Winged Beast form, except that she looks more like a regular leopard, only gray in color with normal fangs.**_

_**

* * *

**_

The other two screamed and tried to make a break for it but their efforts were in vain as Yue pounced on both of them and nearly half-mauled them to death faster before they could scream 'Bloody Murder'.

_"Jyuuken!"_ yelled Neji, striking out at his opponents swiftly with his clan's fighting style while Naruto created four shadow clones and performed an '_Uzumaki Naruto combo'_ on the next three guys with Lee finishing of his lot just as quickly.

"I found the last one!" Lee said, pointing to the guy who fleed just now who was hiding behind a rock.

Realizing that he'd been found, the man yelped and turned to run only to come inches face to face with the gray leopard known as Yue. The man stared at the blood dripping from Yue's fangs in horror as the leopard growled at him.

"Nyan!" went Yue.

**_"_**_**HIYAAAAAAAA...!"**_ screamed the man as his eyeballs rolled back and he fell backwards in faint.

Everybody looked the unconscious figure in disbelief. "You've got to be kidding me..." the all said in unison.

"Well, that was easy," remarked Yue transforming back into her kitten form and using the guy's cloak to wipe the blood from her mouth. As she did so, the hood of the cloak slipped back to reveal a young man with long brown hair tied in a ponytail. Lee gasped in surprise as he recognized the guy.

"Karashi-san!" he exclaimed, causing the rest of his team to look at him. Kaori shifted her gaze to look down at Karashi.

"Heh, so he's Karashi-san..." she muttered, nudging him awake with her foot. Karashi stirred and opened his eyes to see the four genin looking down at him, causing him to quickly bolt upright into a sitting position. Lee wasted no time in confronting him.

"Karashi-san! Is it true you joined the Kurosuki family?" asked Lee.

Karashi frowned and turned his head away, folding his arms and crossing his legs. "Hmph! So what if I did?"

It was then Yue sensed anger radiating Kaori as she looked up to see Kaori's pupils turning into slits. Her sharp hears detected a small growl emitting from the base of her mistress's throat while she saw electricity sparks appearing around her fists.

"Raiga-sama is amazing!" declared Karashi proudly. "He chased out the Akudaikan family and liberated the villa-"_**THWACK! **_"ARRRGH!" screamed the guy as he rolled backwards a few times before writhing in pain while his face.

"Oi, Kaori! Have you gone mental?" demanded a shocked Naruto.

Kaori ignored Naruto as she glared at Karashi with such a menacing look that the guys backed of slightly. _"Raiga-sama?...Heh, don't ever mention such a filthy name in front of me again..."_ she hissed, her words laced with poison.

"What is your deal, bitch? How dare you speak off Ra-" _**ZAP! BOOM! **_A small, burnt hole appeared in the ground just inches from Karashi's feet. The freaked out man quickly got up and scurried behind Rock Lee for protection.

Kaori blew lightly to disperse the smoke wafting from two of her finger tips. _"Are you trying to get yourself killed?..."_ Kaori said giving Karashi a killer glare, causing the man to squeak in fright.

"Kaori-san, please calm down, let me handle this..." said Lee before turning to the frightened man behind him. The girl narrowed her eyes and turned to walk away with Yue trailing behind her towards one of the men Yue almost ripped to shreds. Neji decided to follow her out of concern, leaving Naruto and Lee to talk some sense into Karashi. He stood behind and watched as she knelt down and began to form familiar hand seals which drew out green colored chakra that coated her hands. Neji blinked in surprise as Kaori began to heal the gaping, bloody wounds on the man's body.

"I thought Cori-chan was the only one who knew Medical Ninjutsu?" asked Neji, only to get replied with silence.

Yue turned to look at Neji while Kaori continued her work. "Well, Cori-sama is indeed the most adept at healing techniques, but Kaori-sama and Hikari-sama both decided to learn at least the basic healing techniques just in case for times such as now," explained the kitten as Kaori moved on to the next guy.

Neji nodded in understanding and decided to get to the point. "What do you know about the Kurosuki leader?" he asked, careful not to use his name after recalling her reaction just now. The boy could see Kaori's shoulders tense up as she completed healing Yue's victims and stood up deactivating the healing technique.

"It's not something I can easily talk about, senpai...I'll tell you when it's time..." she said avoiding Neji's gaze. It was then the group heard a loud thumping sound followed by muffled screams from the coffin that lay forgotten amidst the choas.

"Oh SNAP!" the two heard Naruto yell.

"Yabai! Rokusuke-san!" exclaimed Yue as she and Naruto quickly raced over to the coffin with Kaori and Neji not far behind. They quickly freed the man who took in a deep breath as he sat up and apologized fervently for his actions. In the meantime, Neji and Kaori had learned that Lee managed to knock some sense into Karashi, literally. Suddenly, Yue's eyes became slits as her fur began to bristle. A menacing snarl escaped from the kitten's jaws as she turned to look up at a mountain ledge. Just then, Kaori felt a piercing look bearing into her back as she spun around following Yue's gaze.

"Kaori-san? Is there anything wrong?" asked Lee.

Neji took one glance at her and knew what was up. "Someone's watching us..." he said following Kaori's and Yue's gaze. "It's probably him...up there!" the boy said a word, Yue quickly transformed into her Winged Beast form and flew up carrying the genin team on her back, leaving Rokusuke and Karashi with bug eyed, jaw dropped expressions.

The team was up on the hill top in seconds and jumped off the winged leopard's back. Yue remained in her Winged Beast Form so that she was prepared for combat. The group looked around to see nothing but wide open space. "Nobody's here..." muttered Neji.

"Where did he go?" asked Naruto, tensing himself for just in case.

All of a sudden, a large cloud of thick mist appeared out of no where and surrounded the genin, impairing their vision. "What's happening?" asked Naruto again as braced himself along with the others. Kaori could feel fear rising within her chest as she clenched her fists. Unknown to the others, a man chuckled evilly as a dark silhouette appeared in the mist.

_"Ninpo: Kiri gakure no Jutsu..."_ the man said as he continued chuckling.

Kaori's breathing stopped momentarily, her eyes growing large as she felt a familiar presence. Rock Lee quickly flipped a small pocketbook. "This technique is a stealth move used by Mist-nin..." he read aloud.

Naruto gritted his teeth as he tried to look around in vain. "Damn, I can see a darn thing in this mist!"

"Neji, can you try locate the enemy with Byakugan?" asked Rock Lee turning to his friend who already had his bloodline limit activated.

"I've been trying from the start but I can't see anything!" growled the Hyuuga in frustration.

* * *

_Byakugan Vision_

_Neji's eyes searched the whole circumference of the area with his 360 degrees field of vision. His searches came up futile when nothing turned up._

_

* * *

_"I can't see anything!" he exclaimed, this time adding confusion to his frustration.

Naruto and Lee looked shock. "But that's impossible!" said Lee in disbelief. "Even with the Byakugan's enhanced vision, Neji still can't see?"

"How's that possible?" asked Naruto looking at Neji.

"It's not, there shouldn't be any technique that could block the Byakugan..." explained Neji, still keeping his eyes peeled.

* * *

Meanwhile the mystery man watched in amusement from his hiding spot. "How are they Ranmaru?" he asked.

"Amazing, one of them can see people's chakra while another one of them appears to be a large cat of some sort giving off a strange energy," replied a voice from under his cloak.

"So he can see us..." said the man in concern.

"Don't worry, my powers are stronger than his, we're perfectly hidden," the voice said reassuringly. "So what now?"

The man smiled. "The Katabami people are depending on me. After all, I have to protect the peace don't I?"

"Are you going to give them a funeral?"

"Why would I? I have no memories of them...hmm?"

"What's wrong, Raiga-san?"

Raiga smirked as he felt a familiar energy. "Well what do you know? It seems that an old acquaintance of mine is with them, and I've planning a special funeral for this one in years..." he said whipping out a pair of hooked swords.

_"Ninpo: Thunder Fangs!"_ he exclaimed, banging the swords together. Electricity was created instantly as the power intensified and became a large pillar of blue lightning that shot into the sky, catching the the teams attention.

"What the hell is that?" Naruto asked in shock as the sky suddenly became dark and ominous. Thunder clapped loudly in the air, drowning out his voice.

"Thunder...FALL!" commanded a male voice.

"WATCH OUT!" cried out Yue as she spread out her huge wings and folded them above the genin just as a huge bolt of lightning struck down towards them.

The team covered their ears as they heard Yue roar loudly in pain while they saw lightning getting deflected all over the place. "Yue!" the team cried as the leopard removed her wings swayed a little with her body surrounded by static electricity.

"I'm fine...I've faced worse..." the leopard replied, shaking the electricity out of her fur as if it was water.

A light thud of landing footsteps caught the genin team's attention as they turned to see a cloaked man. The boys quickly took their stances except for Kaori who turned pale. _"No..."_ she voiced in a half-whisper when her eyes caught the stranger's own.

"My,my...it certainly has been such _**long**_ time hasn't it, Kaori-chan?..." the person asked in a mock cheerful fashion. "I'd recognize that wretched face of yours anywhere, how you've grown!"

The boys looked at Kaori to the man and back to Kaori again with looks of shock and confusion. Yue braced herself, growling. The girl in question stared at the man in terrified silence with eyes filled with fear. The man chuckled. "What's the matter, Kaori-chan? Surely you haven't forgotten, **_my_** face, have you? You little murdering demon.." he asked pulling back his hood to reveal a tan skinned man with dark green hair.

Kaori gasped loudly as all the blood drained from her face when she recognized the one face she had been hoping not to see. The face of the shadowed man from her nightmares. Multiple vivid gruesome images from a certain night flashed in her mind spontaneously. _**Ba-Dump! **A shadowed man standing over her with a bloody hooked sword. **BA-dump! **A young dark green-haired miko lay dead on a patch of grass at a young Kaori's feet with a huge gash across her back. **Ba-DUMP!** Kaori as a child in her own miko robes, blood spattered across her face and clothes. **BA-DUMP!** A close up on Kaori's blood spattered face. A huge mixture of fear, grief and insanity could be seen in her eyes.** BA-DUMP!**_

_"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...!" _screamed Kaori, clutching her head and closing her eyes as she suddenly sank to her knees. Her scream vibrated through the air, piercing everyone's eardrums.

* * *

R.F: 0_0 Dear GOD! Stay Tuned to the next chapter, people!


	19. Ghost of Kaori's Past

_**Chapter 16: Ghost of Kaori's Past...**_

_"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.................!!!!!!!!!"_ screamed a horrified Kaori as she sank to her knees clutching her head.

"Kaori-sama!" cried out Yue as she tried to reach a paw out to her only to receive a static shock causing the leopard to instinctively jump back. Yue gasped as she realized what was happening. "Stay back you guys!" she warned just as Naruto and Lee were about to move towards Kaori, stopping them in their tracks. Blue lightning could be seen visibly sparking around Kaori as she sat there clutching herself and trembling. The lightning surrounded the girl and formed a small sphere, almost as if it were for protection.

Raiga chuckled at the girl's reaction in obvious enjoyment. "So, it looks like you do recognize me, ne?" he asked as he began to take a step towards Kaori, only to have the boys jump in front of her.

"You stay away from her!" yelled Lee.

"How do you know Kaori-san?!" demanded Naruto, angrily.

Raiga looked a little taken aback before regaining himself. "You guys don't know jack about her do you?"

The boys scowled in response, although inside they were just as confused. Raiga narrowed his eyes and smiled. "Do you know...that the creature you are protecting is a **_monster_** and a _**murderer**?"_

The boys widened their eyes while Yue, who had been controlling herself the whole time finally snapped and lunged at Raiga with a deafening roar. **_"SILENCE!!!"_** she roared fiercely.

The man smirked and jumped out of the way easily. Yue lunged at him again full force savagely. She opened her jaws and shot out a stream of blue lightning at the man, who simply stuck out his swords and absorbed the energy into his arms. _"Lightning Bullet!"_ Raiga yelled, sending a large lightning ball at the leopard who quickly folded her wings in front of her as a shield.

In the meantime, the boys turned to Kaori, still unable to approach her due to the lightning sphere surrounding her. Kaori appeared to be unaware of her surroundings as she continued clutching herself and staring at the ground. The boys could see her lips moving so they craned their necks to try and catch her words. _"No...he can't be alive....he shouldn't be alive...no, no...sensei, what should I do?.....It wasn't my fault right? It's not my fault?...Is it really my fault?.... Why is he alive?....I killed him didn't I?..I killed him!.... I killed everyone!...Did I?, Did I?, Did I?!" _they heard her say to herself over and over again.

"Oh man...she's losing it!" exclaimed Naruto in fear with his eyes bugging out.

"She's going into shock!" said Neji worriedly as Kaori began to hyperventilate. "Oh crap! Lee, Naruto, help Yue! I'll handle Kaori!"

"Sure thing-ttebayo!" "HAI!" said the two boys as they rushed off to help Yue.

"Konoha Senpuu!" yelled Lee as he jumped in the air to deliver a kick at Raiga, who evaded easily while blocking an attack from Naruto simultaneously. Yue came running up at full speed while glowing blue with chakra.

_"Catgirl Jutsu!" **Poof! **_went Yue disappearing in to a smoke cloud emerging in her cat girl form. She unsheathed her claws and began slashing at the man who jabbed his sword at was quick enough to shift to the side before grabbing Raiga's arm and biting down on it hard. Raiga screamed in pain as blood began pouring from the wound.

"Raiga-san! Are you alright?!" Yue heard a young concerned voice ask from underneath his cloak.

_'A kid?'_ thought Yue as she released her jaws and jumped a few feet back, spitting out Raiga's blood.

_"Kage Bushin no Jutsu!"_ yelled Naruto creating about 10 clones that charged at Raiga in a random formation.

_"Fangs of Lightning... FALL!"_ yelled Raiga, causing a huge lightning bolt to strike Naruto, destroying all his clones in one shot. Rock Lee was also caught up in the blast as with Yue, which propelled all of them in different directions.

"ARRGH!!" screamed Yue as she hit the ground hard, rendering her unconscious while reverting Yue back into her original form as she hit the ground rolling.

"GUYS! YUE!" cried out Neji seeing what happened to his teammates. He quickly took up the Gentle fist stance when he saw Raiga running towards them. _"Jyuuken!"_ he yelled striking out at the man who quickly evaded Neji's strikes while Neji was doing his best to attack and not get stabbed by Raiga's swords.

While unseen by Neji, his cry earlier had managed to bring back Kaori's mind to sanity, causing the girl to look up and gasp as she saw Neji taking on Raiga on his own. Her eyes traveled to where Lee and Naruto fell unconscious until finally Kaori her beloved partner, Yue, unconscious, burnt and bleeding. At that moment, Kaori began to feel anger well up inside her as she began to stand up. The electrical barrier that surrounded began to intensify and expand in energy. She reached into her pouch and pulled out a blue scroll with the words 'Close Combat' written on it. In one swift move, Kaori unrolled the scroll and placed her palm on it, causing smoke to instantly erupt from it. There was a ringing of bells as Kaori spun a pair of melon hammers with large cat bells as the heads in either hand.

_"Close Combat Weapon: Melon Hammer Bells!!" _she yelled. The energy creating the protective barrier around her began to disappear as it began to get absorbed into the bells. _"Lightning...MUSIC!!!"_ cried out Kaori as she banged the two bells together, which produced a loud ringing sound that shot out the lightening at the same time towards Raiga. Instead of hearing just one scream, Kaori's ears picked up a much higher scream mixed with Raiga's as the blast hit him straight on, forcing him away from Neji. Kaori quickly ran up to Neji who was beginning to feel fatigue after the attack.

"Senpai, daijobu?" asked Kaori, helping Neji to stand.

"Kaori...never mind me, what about you?"

Kaori didn't answer straight away but instead dropped her weapons, cupped his face and tilted his head downwards so that his forehead protector touched hers, causing Neji to blush involuntarily. _"Neji-senpai...arigato...."_ she whispered before breaking away, picking up her weapons and running towards the spot where Yue was leaving a very surprised Neji who blinked a few times.

* * *

Raiga desperately tried to keep conscious as he quickly twisted his body so that he landed on his front to avoid landing on the bundle on his back. "Ranmaru! Are you alright?!" he asked sounding very worried. The bundle on his back shifted a little.

"I-I'm fine, Raiga...." Ranmaru managed to reply weakly. "Raiga...behind you!" cried the voice at it sensed something coming at them fast. Raiga quickly turned and jumped to avoid Rock Lee, who spun around and charged at Raiga once more, forcing the man to jump back several steps began to throw punches and kicks at him.

"Hang in there Ranmaru! I'll end this quick!" said Raiga as he jumped a few meters back while Lee took up his usual stance.

"Raiga.."Ranmaru said. "He's still unconscious!!"

"Say what?!" exclaimed Raiga in surprise. It was then he realized that Lee had not made a single sound while attacking and that his eyes were shut upon closer observation. Raiga cautiously made his way towards Lee and stuck out his sword. To his surprise, Lee shifted and slapped the sword away with his wrist. "It looks like your right...."

"Our opponent is fighting on pure reflexes...it's amazing!"

"I agree Ranmaru..." said Raiga as he began to block Lee's attacks once more. "Just for that I'll give him a real nice funeral!" he yelled striking at Lee who dodged by flipping through the air.

"Right!" yelled Ranmaru, as tried to predict Lee's movements. Raiga quickly dodged. "His moves are unpredictable, but I'll do my best to help you Raiga!"

It was then began his assault again while Ranmaru began to read the boy's movement. "Right! Left! From the front! Now JUMP!!" he yelled, directing Raiga's moves. Suddenly Raiga tried to slash at Lee, only to have his sword caught by Lee who stood on his head and clamped the weapon between his feet. Raiga narrowed his eyes as he tried to use his other sword but Lee quickly curved his body and clamped the other with his hands tightly, preventing the man from using them.

"How is he able to do this much?!" asked Ranmaru, evidently shocked.

Meanwhile, Naruto was beginning to regain consciousness. The first thing he saw was a knocked out Lee still having a grip on Raiga's swords._ "Bushy-Brows...."_ he managed to voice out as he tried to stand up only to fall over again. _

* * *

_Yue slowly regained consciousness. A slight buzzing sound was ringing in her ears as she felt pain leaving her body, which was covered in a green glow. She raised her head to see Kaori healing her and Neji standing behind Kaori. "Kaori-sama!" exclaimed the kitten in surprise as she jumped into her master's arms. She looked up at Kaori's face with large eyes. "Daijobu, Kaori-sama?"

Kaori smiled a little and nodded her head. The look of worry on the kitten's face changed to relief as her eyes became teary. "Thank goodness....." muttered Yue as she buried her face in Kaori's chest and began to cry. Kaori hugged Yue and stroked her fur gently. The girl then turned her gaze to where Lee was still fighting Raiga. Her eyes widened when she realized Lee's state.

"I can't believe it...he's not even awake..."

"That's Lee for you..." said Neji. "The training Gai-sensei placed Lee through all these years has given his body amazing muscle memory."

* * *

_"I once ran for three days while sleeping...it's true, I swear!" said a drowsy Lee as they neared the curry of life restaurant.

* * *

_

"So he wasn't kidding..." muttered Kaori and Yue when they recalled what Lee said the other day.

Just then, Lee quickly broke his hold on Raiga's swords and spun on the ground, striking out with his foot. Raiga was able to avoid getting hit but Lee's attack managed to hit the bundle on his back. "RAIGA!!!" a kid's voice screamed as a large bag flew out form Raiga's ripped cloak and landed closely to where Kaori, Yue and Neji were. Raiga looked around desperately to see where the bag was. "Move it!" he yelled shoving Lee out of the way.

Lee awoke as he hit the ground slightly dazed, before he could clear his head Lee heard Raiga yelling in anger from behind. He turned just in time to see Naruto kick the man away. "Heh, Uzumaki Naruto has arrived!"

"Naruto-kun..."

"You brat! Do you **want** to die?!" asked Raiga in annoyance as he regained his balance.

Naruto ignored what he said and decided to cut straight to the point. "I've got something to ask you. I heard that you were a former member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen. Then you should know Zabuza and Kisame, right?"

"I hate them...I'm not going to remember anything about them.." replied the man acidly. "And I hate you too!" he roared, charging at Naruto, who ducked and began running neck to neck with Raiga.

"Then I guess I'll have to get the answer from you by force!" said Naruto as they both engaged in aerial contact.

* * *

Kaori watched her team mate and Raiga attack each other. Her skin began to prickle when she sensed Raiga gathering energy in his swords. "Naruto!" cried Kaori, grabbing her Melon Hammer Bells and running towards the two.

* * *

_"Lightning Ball!!!"_ yelled Raiga, throwing an energy ball at Naruto.

_**"Miko Arts: Lightning Barrier!!!"**_

Naruto flinched but when he realized that nothing happened he looked up to see Kaori standing in front of him holding a pair of melon hammers that were giving off electricity. The electrical barrier he saw Kaori use the other day was absorbing the ball of lightening Raiga threw at him. The said man growled in anger at Kaori who lowered the barrier. Kaori herself was throwing Raiga a poisonous look herself. "So...you're still alive.." she said.

Raiga smirked mockingly. "Evidently..." he said before his face distorted with hatred. "But I was forced to live with the curse you placed on me!"

"Curse?" Naruto asked Kaori, only to see that she was just as confused.

Raiga allowed energy to static around his arm making Kaori narrow her eyes."Believe me Raiga, cursing you is the last thing I would do to a murderer like you!" she spat.

Suddenly, Raiga burst out laughing. "Me? A Murderer?!" he asked as if Kaori had just said something ridiculous. "No, the murderer here is YOU! Nekojiwa KAORI!!! If it weren't for you, Raika would have still been alive!!!" he accused, jabbing a sword at Kaori.

"You leave Sensei out of this! She died to protect me, from _**you**_!!!"

Raiga gritted his teeth while anger flared in his eyes. "YOU SHOULD JUST DIE YOU DEMONIC, CURSED CHILD!!!!!" he roared, charging at Kaori.

"THE ONE WHO SHOULD DIE IS YOU!!!" retorted Kaori, gripping her weapons and charging at Raiga as well. The two clashed with a flash of lightening as bells and spiked swords met with a clang.

* * *

"Kaori-sama!" Yue cried out seeing her master engage in battle.

"Yue what's going on?" demanded Neji.

"We have to separate them, Neji-dono! Hurry, or they'll kill each other!!!"

The boy gasped when he heard Yue's response. From what he could see, the amount of electricity given out made it impossible for anybody to interfere with the battle. That was when an idea popped into his mind. "NARUTO! USE SHADOW CLONES NOW!!!" he called.

Naruto looked at him in confusion. "WHY?!"

"JUST SHUT UP AND DO IT!!!"

"Yeesh! Fine!_ Kage Bunshin no JUTSU!!!"_ cried Naruto creating a whole army of shadow clones that surrounded Raiga. A few of them discreetly grabbed Kaori and hid her within the crowd, much to her chagrin.

_"What are you guys doing?"_ hissed Kaori as she was lead out of the Naruto crowd.

_"Sorry, Kaori-san. This was Neji's idea,"_ replied one of the clones who dragged her towards Yue and Neji before disappearing.

* * *

Raiga growled in frustration when his target disappeared and was replaced by multiple clones of the brat in orange."Come and get me!" challenged Naruto.

_"Lightning Ball!"_ yelled Raiga throwing the technique forward, only to destroy a group of Naruto's clones.

"What's the matter? Was it just luck you hit me earlier?" asked Naruto mockingly.

"It doesn't matter! I just have to hit you all!" retorted Raiga putting his swords together and began to dispel lightening which began to destroy any of the clones who tried to charge at him. He could sense fatigue creeping up on him._ 'Tch! At this rate I'm gonna get drained of my chakra! Not to mention the mist I put up is disappearing, I have to end this quick!'_

Suddenly Raiga stabbed his swords into the ground and created a lightning path up a mountain side. With wasting time, he quickly began running up the lightning path while the Naruto clones started running after him. Raiga quickly placed his swords in his belt and formed a few hand seals. _"Ninja Art: Rock Slide!" _he said.

The lightning instantly caused the rocky side to shatter, creating large rocks that destroyed the clones as they fell."Naruto-dono!" cried Yue as she began to run forward transforming into her Winged Beast form as she jumped into the air.

"Naruto-kun!" called Lee quickly standing up.

Meanwhile, Raiga managed to reach the top safely and looked down at the rock pile in satisfaction. "Hmph, I showed him!"

"Think again!"

Raiga spun around and looked up to see Naruto coming down at him with a clone forming a spinning ball of chakra in Naruto's hand. _"STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!!!!!" _a shrill voice cried out from the bag near Kaori and Neji, causing their heads to look at it in shock. The voice had reached Naruto as well but it was too late as his clone disappeared and drew back his hand.

"I can't stop now! _Rasengan!"_ he cried, driving the chakra ball into Raiga's chest, sending the man spinning of very far away. "I got him!"

"Naruto-dono, thank goodness you're alright!" said Yue flying up to where the boy was.

Naruto nodded, getting on Yue's back and flew down to where Neji and Kaori were. Imagine his surprise when Kaori suddenly threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly the moment he got off the leopard. "K-kaori-san?" he asked blushing furiously.

"Thank god...." she said in relief. Naruto could feel warm drops of tears falling on his shoulder as Lee caught up to them and joined Neji in looking surprised. Kaori released her arms from Naruto and began to hug Lee tightly as well, who awkwardly hugged her back. "Thank goodness you guys are alright....." she said pulling away and wiping the tears from her face.

The boys plus Yue all looked at her in surprise. Their first impression when they met her was that she just another emo character who only knew how to be sarcastic, but now...this was a whole new side of their teammate that they've never seen. Yue, on the other was surprised because this was the first time in four years since that terrible day that Kaori was being so emotional. Naruto quickly cleared the awkwardness in the air by turning his attention to the bag on the ground. "So these are Raiga's eyes, huh?" he asked as everybody stood around and looked at it curiously while Yue began to sniff it. "That's sure one huge eyeball!" he commented, making Kaori and Yue look at him incredulously.

"Nope, this scent...is a human.."corrected Yue.

Neji knelt down beside the bag and began to unzip it. Kaori and Yue did a double take when they saw the face of the person inside. _'Raika-sensei!' 'Raika-sama!'_ they both thought at first in shock, but regained their themselves when they realized that the person inside the bag was a child, and a young boy too. Lee knelt down beside the boy.

"You were the one I was fighting in my dream, wasn't I?" he asked.

"Not just me..." replied the boy. "Raiga too, the two of us are one..."

"You two are one?" echoed Lee in confusion.

"Always...ever since that day..." said the boy as he began to tell his story.

* * *

_It was night time, as the ghastly screams of men filled the air. A group of Mist Anbu looked at the small pile of corpses they had just killed before disappearing._

_Elsewhere, a man stood outside a lone hut with blood dripping down his swords as he kicked down the door easily. His face was covered by a Mist Anbu mask. "Don't pretend to be asleep, you're gonna die anyway," he said to a small lump covered in blanket on the floor. The blanket shifted a little. "Don't move!" he ordered, pinning down one side of the blanket with his sword. "Spies from this village have infiltrated Kirigakure. We're to kill them. I don't know who to kill anymore, so I'm just killing whoever I find."_

_The blanket shifted, with a muffled giggle escaping from it.__ The man pulled up the sheet a little with his other sword to reveal a pair of glowing red eyes, startling him momentarily._

_"It's fine," said a young voice that came with the red eyes. "If it's you who is going to kill me..."_

_"Why me?" asked the man._

_"I can see you've been crying all this time...."_

_"Huh? Me? Crying?"_

_"Inside your heart....I can tell you've been crying a lot...you've lost someone very dear to you while seeking to kill someone in particular... for revenge..."_

_The man did a small double take and removed his mask to get a better look, revealing the face of a slightly younger Kurosuki Raiga._

_"I've been watching you this whole time...." the boy said._

_"What...are you..? he asked, his eyes wide with shock._

_"I'm like you.." came the reply. "I find life is painful, I don't why I'm even living at all....I can't walk...everybody hates me, all I can do is watch from in here in silence... but if my death gives you some satisfaction, then I don't mind dying..." said the boy removing the covers and sitting up._

_The man gasped when he saw a resemblance of the boy's face with a young woman from his past. The boy bowed his head. "Please, go ahead..."_

_Instead of fulfilling the boy's request, Raiga lowered his sword. "Are you..alone?" he asked._

_The boy looked at him and nodded. Raiga placed his sword down and held out his arms towards the boy. "Come," he said, lifting the boy up to his eye-level. "From now on, you and I are one..." he said smiling at the boy. _

_The boy nodded in agreement as Raiga placed him on his back and picked up his swords. It was raining when the two emerged. Raiga looked around carefully before running off into the mist with the boy._

_**Since then I became Raiga's eyes and ears while he became my arms and legs.....it was the first time I saw the outside. I was overwhelmed by everything I saw and heard for the first time. It was a lot of fun..**_

_**Wherever, whenever, we were together.....the two of us always.... I gave him happiness while he gave me a purpose to live...

* * *

**_

The boys listened to the kid's story in amazement. Kaori and Yue on the other hand showed disbelief. The boy's words brought back a memory of Haku and his devotion to Zabuza for Naruto.

_"Please kill me..."_

Naruto heard Haku's words echo within the kid's own. "Fulfill your mission and finish me off.."

Kaori closed her eyes for a moment before looking at the boy. "Our mission was to drive of the Kurosuki family, now that Raiga is not here, he is no threat."

Naruto and Lee nodded in agreement as Neji stood up. "But now the problem at hand is the leaderless Kurosuki family... with a head, who knows what the group will do now...."

The others nodded again. "But... what about him?" asked Naruto looking at the kid with sympathy. A long pause came from Neji who didn't answer immediately.

"I'll look after him," volunteered Yue, stepping forward. Kaori kept silent.

"Alright," said Neji in approval and with that, Lee and Naruto helped the boy out of the bag and placed him on Yue's back. **(She never changed back.)** Yue folded her wings over the kid to keep him steady.

"Hold it," said Kaori removing a slip of paper from her pocket and placed it on the boy's back. It was different from a regular chakra seal. Instead of being bordered with red, it was bordered dark blue and the characters written on it were written differently.

"That doesn't look like a Chakra seal, Kaori-san," stated Lee.

"It's a Spirit Seal, it's more effective than a Chakra seal...." explained the girl as she straightened herself out.

"But is it really necessary? He's just a kid!" protested Naruto.

"We can't take any chances Naruto-kun, I'm sorry..."

"Shall we?" asked Neji. The rest nodded at him before they made their way back down to the village, leaving Yue with the kid.

The leopard watched as they disappeared from view. "So, what's your name?"

"Hmm?" the boy asked in confusion.

"I'm Yue, what's yours?"

"R-ranmaru..."

Yue smiled patting the boy's head with her tail, comforting him. "Ranmaru-dono, have you ever wondered what's it like to fly?"

The depressed boy was caught off guard and forgot his sadness. "Well..I guess..."

"Do you want to try?"

"Huh?"

"Flying, of course!"

Ranmaru looked at the winged leopard skeptically. "Can you really?"

"I have wings don't I? Just hang on tight!" said Yue as she began running towards the cliff edge. Ranmaru gulped as he hung on tight and buried his face in her fur. He could feel Yue taking a huge leap and then the sound of rushing wind filled his ears along with the flapping of Yue's wings. He slowly lifted his face and opened his eyes to see that he and Yue were high up over the hills. His heart became overwhelmed with excitement as he could see the landscape from a bird's eye view.

"Sugoi!" he finally managed to say. "Higher, please!" he asked, forgetting the feeling of depression he felt earlier. Yue flapped her wings and took him higher until they disappeared into the clouds. Just moments before they did, Ranmaru looked down and gasped as he caught a glimpse of Raiga's swords sticking out of a rock pile.

_'Raiga....' _he thought sadly, as Yue flew into the clouds.

* * *

**_R.F: *starts fanning self* Wow....finally! *Looks to readers* Well, I guess by now you guys know that Raiga is the guy from Kaori's nightmares. But now there are more questions that need to be answered. Who is Raika-sensei, and how does she connect Raiga and Kaori together? You have to wait for the next chapter to find out! BYE~!!!  
_**


	20. Journey to Kaori's Past

**_Chapter 17: Journey to Kaori's Past..._**

**_

* * *

_**

**_R.F: This is a special chapter where we learn more about Kaori's past and powers. This is also the chapter where we finally find who Raika-sensei is and how does she connect Raiga and Kaori together. BY the way, don't flame me if my Oc's seem Mary-Sue-ish to you. Just don't...  
_**

**_

* * *

_**Back at the gold mines, the villagers were all grouped together, their expressions unreadable. Karashi stood by them, a look of anticipation appearing on his face. The genin team stood on the edge of a cliff that over looked the village. "Looks like the villagers are welcoming us," said Lee.

"Alright! They're looking fine! The Kurosuki family must've chickened out and split!" said Naruto jubilantly.

Neji's eyes looked around and appeared to have spotted something while Kaori's nose twitched as it caught a scent on the wind. The team looked at each other and smiled slyly.

* * *

"Hey everybody!" called Naruto as the group came jogging down the mountain. Karashi grinned as they came into view. Unfortunately, it wasn't a good natured kind of grin.

"Naruto-san! STAY BACK!" yelled Rokusuke, only to have Karashi cover his mouth.

"Be quiet if you want to live.." Karashi warned.

The other villagers looked at him in disbelief. "Karashi! We heard you were sorry for your actions!" one of them said.

"Hmph! Like I'll go back to that dinghy little restaurant so easily! NOW!" Karashi called, signaling to the other Kurosuki members at the top of the hill.

The men quickly began to push down large boulders that came rolling down the steep slope at such a high speed that the four genin barely had time to react. The villagers gasped as they saw the ninja getting crushed by the boulders. The other Kurosuki members came down and stood on top of the boulders looking evidently pleased that they destroyed their opponents. "Hah! See? Even if Raiga-sama is gone, the Kurosuki family is eternal!" he announced triumphantly.

While the other members tried searching between the boulders for the bodies, a familiar voice spoke up. "Hey! Watcha' looking for?"

"What else? Those do-gooder kids!" one of them replied without realizing who was speaking.

"You mean us?" asked another.

That got their attention. The gang members whipped around to see Neji and Naruto looking at them in amusement. Everybody stared at them with open mouths. "Do you really think that we would get killed off that easily?" asked Kaori, who appeared sitting on one of the boulders with one leg crossed over the other. Lee stood behind her with his arms folded.

"It was Naruto-kun's Shadow Clones of us that got destroyed," explained the boy.

"Assemble!" called the one who spoke up just now. The group quickly jumped back and clustered together. _"Ninpo: Black Tornado!"_

Suddenly the group split into two and began jumping on each other's shoulders, forming two human pillars. The genin group looked at them in shock as the men stuck out their arms, unsheathed their metal claws and began spinning rapidly, creating two deadly black tornadoes. One of them spun towards Neji and Naruto while the other went after Lee and Kaori. The genin quickly began running to get away from them only to have their efforts proved in vain as they got sucked into the tornadoes chasing them. All of them screamed before disappearing into smoke, catching the men off guard.

"Those were Shadow Clones too!" yelled Naruto from the top of cliff where the group had been watching the whole scenario. Kaori was shown to have already switched her Melon Hammer Bells for her Cat Sash Bells as the genin team began their assault, running down the mountain.

"We saw through your plans from the start!"said Neji. "Kaori-san!" he called.

Kaori nodded as she gripped the handles of her two bells and shook them, creating a loud ringing as Kaori began to charge them with electricity. _"Lightning Bells... Ring!" _she cried out, slamming the two bells together in the direction of the two tornadoes. A loud ringing was produced as blue lightning shot out of the bells in the form of waves, moving in rhythm to the rings. The Lightning/Sound waves hit the two tornadoes dead on and surrounded it. Kaori slammed her bells together once more, this time producing a louder and larger wave which forced the men to disperse.

The Kurosuki members yelled in pain as they hit the ground convulsing with lightning sparking around their bodies while they clutched their ears, which were bleeding slightly. But that didn't stop them from getting back on their feet and blocking attacks from Lee and Naruto, who took down at least six of them in seconds.

_"Byakugan!"_ went Neji when four of the members had surrounded him. Once he saw that they were within range, Neji took his stance. _"Kaiten!" _he yelled, spinning rapidly while releasing a huge burst of chakra that repelled the men quickly. _**(A/N: I know he used a different move but I felt that Kaiten was more effective.)**_

Kaori made her weapon disappear as she stood among the half conscious men laying scattered all over the place. She crossed her arms to reveal that she was holding several Spirit Seals in her hands that were equal to the number of the members. Electricity sparked around her as she threw the seals into the air._** "Miko Arts: Spirit Seals!"**_ she said throwing down her arms, directing every individual seal to plaster themselves on each men in various places. Kaori placed her hands together to form a hand seal. _**"Bind!"**_ she commanded sharply.

The Spirit Seals glowed briefly as the men found their arms moving on their own and pinning themselves behind their backs while their legs stuck together and bent forward. "What the hell? I can't move!" yelled one of the members.

"Me neither!"

"I can't move either! What did she do to us?" yell a few of the men as they tried to struggle.

Kaori smirked as her friends caught up to her. Naruto whistled as he looked the guys on the ground. "You've gotta teach that move..." he said impressed.

"Not a chance..." came the reply from Kaori.

* * *

Once back in the village, Naruto stomped angrily up to Karashi. "You just don't learn do you?" he growled in anger, making the man flinch in fear.

"Karashi! You better prepare yourself!"said Rokusuke as he and the other villagers began to advance on him, making Karashi gulp in fear.

"C-come on...it was just a joke..."he stammered as if it make the situation better.

"You enjoyed bullying us!" accused another.

"It's not my fault, I'll get killed if I don't follow the Kurosuki family's orders!" he protested.

"Screw you! I outta hammer your head open!" yelled a man picking up his hammer. Many others also began to pick up their tools getting ready to give Karashi the beating of a lifetime if Lee had not stepped forward, got down on his knees and bowed, much to everyone's surprise, including Kaori.

"Please! Hit me until your satisfied!" he begged. "It was my fault Karashi became like this in the first place! It was because of me he came to think that power was everything!"

Karashi did not hesitate to agree. "Yes! That's right! I knew it was wrong but I couldn't st-" he was saying when a bolt of lightning shot past and hit the wall behind him, narrowly missing his head by inches. The shock made Karashi sink to the ground as his legs gave out.

"URUSAI!" snapped Kaori, walking to the front of the crowd towards the frightened man. Electricity surrounded her body visibly as her eyes blazed with anger, making everybody back off. The girl glared sharply at Karashi. "You're a coward! You left your poor mother all alone, you bullied others mercilessly, and now you're willing to let Lee-senpai take the blame! Have some shame and remorse! Men like you disgust me...you're lucky Lee-senpai is even defending you!" she growled, as a spark of electricity narrowly missed Karashi's...sensitive spot... The poor guy was almost too scared to even wet himself.

A few other villagers nodded in agreement. "That's right! Lee-san, you shouldn't bother with this lying bastard!"

"Please! Kaori-san, everyone! Let me take responsibility! Karashi-san is immature, but he has talent in making life saving curry! I beg of you, please forgive him and let him make things right!" pleaded Lee, not once raising his head from the ground. "If Karashi-san ever goes down the wrong path again, I'll punish him myself!" he declared swinging his fist at Karashi but stopping just inches from his face.

Kaori did a small take at Lee's sincerity and level of mature-ness. She closed her eyes for a moment and turned around, the electricity disappearing. "Hmph!" she said, walking away.

The villagers all looked at one another and nodded. "Everyone, why don't we let Lee-san and Sansho-baasan punish Karashi instead?" asked Rokusuke.

"Well, he is only an underling..." said one.

"It's alright with me," said another. The other villagers gave similar replies. Karashi breathed a huge sigh of relief when Lee suddenly grabbed his head and forced the man's head on the ground with a thud.

"ARIGATO- GOZAIMASU!" exclaimed Lee gratefully, bowing once more.

"A-arigato..." said Karashi, lifting his head.

Naruto dusted his hands. "Well, I guess that raps up this mission!" he said happily.

"Nope, not yet.." said Neji, turning to face Kaori, who nodded in acknowledgment and placed two fingers between her lips and blew gently as she tilted her gaze towards the sky.

Within seconds there was a loud rush of wings as Yue appeared flying down from the cliff with young Ranmaru on her back. The genin were surprised to see that Ranmaru was looking more excited than depressed from before as Yue landed gently on the ground. "Sugoi! That was exhilarating!" breathed the boy.

"Glad you enjoyed your flight," replied Yue, obviously pleased as she made her wings disappear.

"Shall we go back now?" asked Kaori to Neji, who nodded.

Ranmaru looked at the the genin for a while as sadness returned to his eyes."Excuse me..but could I ask for a small request?..."

The others looked at him with open ears.

* * *

As it turns out, the group found themselves back on the mountain where they had fought, walking towards the edge where Raiga fell off. From where they stood, they could see a large pile of rocks where the man's two hands stuck out still clutching his two swords. _"Byakugan!"_ said Neji, activating his technique to check the man's vital signs before deactivating the technique. "As I thought, there's no life left in him..."

Ranmaru stared silently, his small hands gripping Yue's furry back. Yue turned her head slightly, she didn't know why but for some reason, the boy didn't feel as much remorse as she thought. Her instinct told her that something was off. Kaori shared the same sentiments as her pupils became that of a cat's. _'Why? Why am I feeling a new sense of dread?'_Kaori thought as she turned around and walked off.

"I've seen enough..." said Ranmaru, turning his head away to hide a tiny smirk.

"Let's go, our mission is done..." said Neji as the group walked away from the edge back to the curry restaurant.

"Yosha! Now you'll be able to try the Curry of Life!" said Lee excitedly.

"Curry of Life?" echoed Ranmaru in curiousity.

"It's really good! I have to admit after eating a few times I feel totally energetic!" said Naruto, grinning at the kid.

Neji and Yue looked at each other unsure and sweat dropped, while Kaori seemed to stiffen up at the mentioning of the overly spicy curry. It really burned her heat-sensitive tongue but she had forced herself to finish it back then just to be polite.

After collecting Karashi from the villagers, the group finally made their way back to the down the mountain.

* * *

The group was welcomed warmly back at the restaurant by Rokusuke's friends while Karashi nervously entered. His mother said nothing and had her back turned to him while she stirred a large pot of curry. Karashi shifted uncomfortably before sinking down to his knees in shame. "Forgive me, Okaa-chan!" he begged tearfully.

"He said he will devote his whole life to the curry shop from now on," explained Lee, trying to support the man. "Please forgive him!"

Sansho said nothing as she turned around and set a large plate of rice with bubbling reddish colored curry. Kaori and Yue held their breath as they desperately tried not to sneeze from the smell of the spices. "First, you eat!" she said looking stern.

Karashi looked at her mother tearfully while Naruto's face lit up. "Hey if you're not going to eat it, then I will!" he said.

A smile began to appear on Sansho's face. "Eat up everyone, I'll have yours ready in a sec, and I'll make one for the boy too," she said upon noticing Ranmaru on Yue's back.

Naruto gently placed the boy on the seat while Yue reverted back to her kitten form. "Oyasumi..." she said as she promptly collapsed on the floor in deep sleep.

Ranmaru's mouth fell open slightly before he looked at Kaori. "Will she be alright?" he asked as Kaori picked up the kitten and placed her in her jacket.

"She's fine, a little tired that's all. BY the way, Obaa-san could you please make my curry mild please?"

"Mine too," agreed Neji quickly.

Meanwhile, Karashi looked at the plate of bubbling curry rice with tears in his eyes. He sniffed loudly before he picked up the spoon and sat down. "Thank You for the food Kaa-chan!" he said putting a large spoonful in his mouth. No sooner he did it, Karashi's eyes widened as his face became a florescent red while steam came out from his ears.

"That's your punishment. It's 300 times stronger than usual," said Sansho smiling.

Kaori turned her head covering her nose and sneezed. _'No wonder my nose is itching so badly!' _she thought, sneezing again.

The boys watched feeling a bit sorry for the guy as tears streamed down Karashi's red face. He lips had began to swell from the heat and spices as he continued to eat the curry rice. "It's hot! It's hot Kaa-chan, but its delicious!" he said tearfully.

Unseen by the others, Sansho had her back turned to the others to hide her crying face. Kaori really couldn't believe what she was seeing. Here was a guy who left his mother for selfish power and terrorized people while working for that monster Raiga. He had done so many horrible deeds and lied to them **twice,** yet Lee still found it in his heart to forgive and defend Karashi without hesitation. Not to mention Sansho, whom Karashi had probably hurt the most. _'Why? How is it they can find the heart to forgive someone who was involved in taking the lives of others? Such a person should deserve death as punishment!'_ she thought with a mixture of anger and confusion welling up inside her as she clenched her fist.

* * *

Later that night, while Naruto was still downstairs talking to Ranmaru, Kaori decided to visit the two boys in their room. She knocked on the door lightly and waited for a response.

"Come in!" she heard Lee say before opening the door.

"Excuse me for disturbing you guys, but I have to ask you guys something..." said Kaori, closing the door behind her. The two boys looked at each other before looking at her as she sat down.

"We'll answer your questions only if you would answer ours," bargained Neji, not willing to miss the opportunity to learn more about their puzzling team mate.

Kaori went silent for a while as she thought about it. "It depends..." she muttered.

"So..what was it you wanted to ask of us, Kaori-san?" asked Lee.

The girl stared at them hard. "Karashi-san did a lot of bad things to the innocent, why and how is it do you manage to forgive someone who has done unforgivable things?..." she asked getting straight to the point.

With even hesitating, Lee gave Kaori a large grin and said, "That's easy! I just forget what's in the past and look forward! There's no point in hating someone forever!".

Kaori widened her eyes and lowered her head as she recalled her conversation with her friend Taiboku. "He said something like that back then too..."

"Who?" asked Lee and Neji at the same time.

"Nothing, now to keep my end of the deal, what is it do you need to know?"

"I want to know how come you and Raiga-san seem to know each other?" asked Ranmaru as he and Naruto entered the room. Kaori still tensed a little at seeing Ranmaru and hearing Raiga's name.

Keeping her eyes hidden by her bangs, unwanted memories began flashing in her mind. _The blood spatter, her sensei dying, that **creature's** rancid face..._Kaori clenched her teeth as she tried to suppress the trauma she experienced that day. "Gomenasai..."she muttered loud enough for the boys to hear, her voice shaking. "But that is one question I'd rather not answer... please excuse me..." she said, bowing her head and leaving the room silently.

The boys looked at each other in confusion. Just then, Yue entered the room and bowed her head. "Forgive my master, please. To tell you the truth, Kaori-sama has been dreading that encounter with Raiga the moment she heard he was in the village..." explained Yue sadly.

"But why? What sort of history do they have with each other?" asked Lee curiously.

Yue averted her eyes for brief moment. "I'm not supposed to talk about this...it's complicated..."

Suddenly, Yue heard a thump, bringing her to look up to see Ranmaru on his knees . "Please Yue, even during my time with Raiga-san, he never once spoken about his past! Please Yue, what happened between them?" begged Ranmaru.

_'Ranmaru-dono...'_ Yue looked at the boy's face, her heart filled with nostalgia as she saw a resemblance to an old friend. "You really look so much like her..." Yue thought aloud climbing on to Ranmaru's lap and touching his face with her paw.

"Who?" chorused Neji, Lee and Naruto.

Yue turned her head to them and replied, "Raika-sama...Kurosuki Raika-sama..."

"Kurosuki?" Ranmaru and the others exclaimed in shock, their eyes widening.

Yue nodded in response. "Let me explain to you about Kaori-sama's powers..." she said. "Have you ever heard of the Raijuko?"

"Raijuko?" the boys asked in confusion.

"The Raiju is a powerful legendary beast that serves the Thunder God. It is said that out of every 100 children born of Lightening affinity, the Raiju would choose five children and bestow them a fraction of it's Lightning powers. Those who receive it's powers harness the natural ability to generate lightning from birth. These children are then called Raijuko, children born of the Thunder beast..."**  
**

"So what are you saying, Yue?" asked Naruto, still confused at the kitten's explanation.

"Like I said, Raijuko have the ability to generate Lightning from birth but at a price..." continued Yue.

"What do you mean a price?" asked Ranmaru this time.

"The key abilities of a Raijuko's power are derived from emotions, strong feelings, both positive and negative. When Raijuko experiences strong emotions, such as excitement, despair, rage or even jubilation, they unintentionally release large bursts of their power, hurting others in the process."

It was then the boys recalled Kaori's strange behavior at the Gold Mine. The electric spark Naruto felt when he tried to touch her, the electrical sphere that suddenly appeared surrounded Kaori when she went into shock, the guys looked at each other finally grasping what Yue was trying to say.

"Kaori-san...she's a Raijuko, isn't she?" asked Neji.

"Yes. That time when you first witnessed her powers in the forest, Neji-dono, it wasn't a Nekojiwa clan ability. Kaori tends to use her clan's abilities as an excuse to hide her powers," explained Yue.

"NO way..." said the other boys in amazement.

Yue nodded as a sad expression clouded her face. "Hai, being a Raijuko has been difficult for Kaori-sama as a child. When she was 4 yrs old, she was sent straight to the Lightning Temple of the Lightning Country to learn how to control her powers and for protection."

"Protection?" the boys said curiously.

"Raijuko are considered dangerous due to their powers and are often feared by others. This also makes them valuable as a single Raijuko can produce enough electricity to take out an army of 500," explained Yue.

"EEEH?" the boys exclaimed in shock, their eyes bugging out.

"Fortunately, Kaori-sama's mother knew a young miko at the temple who could help...but unfortunately this meant Kaori-sama had to separate from her family..."

Lee nodded his head in understanding, his brows furrowing together. "And that miko was Kurosuki Raika, right?"

Yue nodded in reply. "Raika-sama was very kind, powerful and respectable as a miko despite being only 17 years old. Not only did she train Kaori-sama to control her powers, Raika-sama personally made her a subordinate so that she could be trained in the Miko Arts."

_'Well that explains why her techniques are so different from ninjutsu...'_ thought Neji as he continued to listen to Yue's tale. (No pun intended)

"While Raika-sama was kind to her, there were others who despised Kaori, mostly for being a Raijuko and secondly for being Raika-sama's student as many have wanted to be mentored by her badly. When by herself, Kaori-sama would often be the subject of bullying by the other disciples and miko. What made it worse was that Kaori-sama had to force herself to suppress her feelings, so that her powers wouldn't be unleashed..." continued Yue, recalling all the times she had witnessed Kaori being tormented, getting pushed down stairs, having buckets of mop water dumped on her, it was painful for Yue as she was defenseless to stop them at the time.

"It must've been hell for her...being unable to cry or anything..."muttered Naruto looking down. _'I wasn't exactly treated nicely either as a kid but at least I could cry when I wanted to...' _he thought sadly as bitter memories of his past came back to him.

"However, there was one particular person who despised Kaori-sama the most, that person was Kurosuki Raiga...Raika-sama's older brother..."

Ranmaru didn't say anything but wore a hardened expression on his face. Just then the room door opened to reveal Kaori standing there looking at Yue sternly. "K-Kaori-sama! G-gomenasai!" Yue apologized hurriedly with a guilty look on her face and kow towing.

Kaori sighed exasperatedly as she entered and sat down, stroking Yue to calm her. "It's ok, I came back to keep my end of the bargain anyway..."

The boys all heaved sighs of relief knowing that they were safe from Kaori's wrath after hearing what she could do. "So you guys know about my powers huh?" asked Kaori bluntly.

Ranmaru looked at her with large eyes. "Yes Ma'am, but please tell us about your relationship with Raiga-sama..."

Kaori looked at Ranmaru and sighed again. "Raiga-san and Raika-sensei were polar opposites as siblings but I could see he loved Raika-sensei very dearly. Sensei told me that their parents were killed by a Raijuko when they were kids, so you can imagine how much he opposed to having me around her..." said Kaori as a flashback hit her.

* * *

**_Flashback_**

_**A young man wearing the uniform of a Hidden Mist Jonin was yelling loudly at a younger woman who was dressed in miko attire who appeared to be looking for something in the temple store house. Four year old Kaori sat curled up in the shade of a nearby tree trying to hold back her tears after being left at place that was miles away from Sunagakure and from her sisters.**_

**_"Raika, I can't believe you would actually go through with this! That GIRL is exactly like the monster who killed our parents years ago!" roared a 19- year old Raiga."You are a respected miko for Pete's sake do you realize what this could do for your reputation!"_**

**_Meanwhile, 17 year old Raika was calmly taking in her brother's protests as she rummaged about in some old boxes."Hmm...now where did I put my old uniform?..." she muttered to herself._**

**_"Are you even listening to me?"_**

**_"FOUND IT~!" Raika said in a sing-song voice as she withdrew a few small miko attire from a box._**

**_"RAIKA!"_**

**_Raika continued to be oblivious to her brother's words as she checked the clothing. She looked slightly upset to see a number of holes in most of the shirts and pants. "Oh dear they're moth eaten...Oh well, guess that means I have to make new ones~! Now where's that sewing kit and material, Onii-sama?" she asked her brother catching him off guard._**

**_"Huh? I think it's on the top shelf Ra- Hey don't change the subject! This is serious!"_**

**_Raika sighed heavily as she momentarily stopped what she was doing and turned to face her brother. " Onii-sama, I AM being serious, Kaori-chan is a Raijuko, there's no changing that fact, but she has nothing to do with what happened to our parents years ago. But if I can help her control her powers better, she can do wonders in the future. She has potential, I can see it!" she said picking up her needed supplies._**

**_"But Raika-"  
_**

**_"No buts, Brother dear, it's about time you returned to the Hidden Mist, ," Raika said firmly walking past her brother and towards Kaori._**

**_Just as the two girls were walking away, Kaori looked over her shoulder to see Raiga staring at her poisonously, his face contorted with pure black hatred. The little girl quickly turned her head to the front to avoid his gaze.

* * *

_**

There was a momentary awkward silence in the room.**_ "So..."_** Lee began to say, breaking the silence. "What ever happened to Raika-sensei?..." he asked despite the fact that everyone has the feeling they knew what the answer was.

A dark look clouded Kaori's face as she bowed her head once more. **_"He killed her!" _**she hissed, raising her head show her eyes filled with blood lust, hatred and an intense desire for revenge. A look that Naruto was only too familiar with. Electricity sparked around Kaori as thunder could be heard rumbling outside. Suddenly, the light's began flickering in reaction to Kaori's electrical pulses.

Ranmaru looked shocked, no, horrified when he heard Kaori's answer. "You're lying...it can't be true..." he said softly before passing out.

Neji quickly caught the boy before his head hit the ground. "No doubt the shock has gotten to him..." noted Neji as he excused himself to carry Ranmaru out.

Kaori quickly regained her usual stoic demeanor as she got up."It's late, I'm going to bed," said Kaori excusing herself.

"Kaori-sama..." said Yue sadly in a soft voice as she followed her owner.

"Good night, you two..." said Kaori as she closed the door behind her and Yue before making her way back to her room.

* * *

Once there, Yue sat by Kaori silently as she removed her ninja gear as well as her jacket and guantlets before unclipping her long hair which sweeped the futon she sat on. Taking a decorated comb from her bag, Kaori slowly ran it through her hair. After a few silent moments, Yue spoke. "You don't think he's dead do you?" Yue asked, although it sounded more like a statement.

Kaori's hand paused slightly before setting the comb down and picking up a cat brush after removing Yue's collar. "I can't hide anything from you, can I Yue?" asked Kaori smiling a little.

"Kaori-sama..."

The smile dropped quickly as Kaori face held a question of uncertainty. "I thought he died 4 years ago, Yue. If he survived then what's to say he won't be back?"

Yue placed a paw reassuringly on Kaori's hand and smiled. "Even if he cheated Death once, my Lady, I doubt even he can survive twice, please cease your worry, Kaori-sama, it's over..." said Yue as Kaori began to brush her fur.

"I only hope so..."

* * *

The next morning came quick, as the genin got up early to see their clients off. "Thank you guys so much," both clients said happily.

Naruto and Neji replied with big smiles except for Kaori, who smiled a little and bowed. The clients bowed as well before moving off. "Take care of yourselves!" yelled Naruto as he waved with both arms enthusiastically after the clients.

"Neji-dono, wherever is Lee-dono?" asked Yue upon noticing the absence of a particular member.

"Let's just say he still hasn't finished his own mission..." said Neji giving a small chuckle as he looked away. Kaori and Yue followed his gaze just in time to see Lee jogging up the path with an extremely worn out Karashi, who was sweating by the buckets.

* * *

"Lee, wait up...I'm bushed..." complained Karashi panting heavily as he lagged far behind Lee, who unsurprisingly has not broken a sweat as he continued jogging on the spot.

"Seems like it, let's take a break," replied Lee. Karashi heaved a huge sigh of relief as he sat down breathing hard. "Let's do 300 push ups!"

"EEEEHHH?" screamed Karashi doing a double take.

**"1,2, 1, 2, 1, 2..." **went Lee as he completed 300 push ups in no time while Karashi barely could even complete two as he collasped face down and exhausted. Lee suddenly glanced at the sky, taking note of the dark clouds up ahead. "Looks like a storm's coming..." he noted as Neji and Kaori approached with Naruto not far behind.

Kaori tilted her head skyward, her pupils dilating into slits. "Yes...a storm is coming..." she echoed Lee in a low voice as a feeling of dread welled up inside her.

* * *

Minutes later, a couple of trees could be heard falling as Naruto and Lee straightened their backs from sawing. "Hey with a couple of strong logs reinforcing the restaurant, I think it'll do just find in a strong storm," exclaimed Naruto confidently.

Sansho, Kaori, Yue and Neji stood by them watching. "Oh thank you boys, how kind of you two!" said Sansho happily.

"Oh no, thank you for your yummy curry!" replied Lee good naturedly. Naruto grinned and nodded in agreement.

"Hmm, I wonder where Karashi went?" wondered the old lady out loud.

Suddenly a look of concern crossed Neji's face as he leaned sightly towards Kaori. _"Kaori-san, I'm getting a bad feeling about leaving Karashi and Ranmaru together in that house,_" he whispered.

_"Agreed,"_ replied Kaori, nodding at the same time. _"Yue!"_ she called softly over her shoulder.

Kaori's hood shifted as Yue's head popped out and nodded. "I shall go check on them, Kaori-sama, Neji-dono," said the kitten as she jumped and silently made her way back to the restaurant.

* * *

Once there, Yue squeezed herself through the wooden bars of a window and landed gently on the ground. "Karashi-dono? Ranmaru-dono?" she called out as she quickly bounded upstairs to check the rooms, only to find no one._ "Oh no..."_ whispered the kitten as she had a hunch where the two would be as she quickly made her way out of the restaurant and began to sniff the air. Just as she suspected, she detected their mixed scents heading towards the gold mines.

"I have to stop them!" said Yue worriedly as she began running as fast as she could in the direction of the scents.

Meanwhile, well ahead going down a mountain trail, Karashi carefully made his way down to where Raiga fell, carrying Ranmaru on his back. "Are you sure the boss is really alive?" he asked Ranmaru.

"Positive. Although Neji failed to notice, I did," replied Ranmaru just as Karashi reached the foot of the mountain, becoming unnerved at upon seeing Raiga's hands still gripping his swords poking out from the pile of rocks he was buried under.

Ranmaru's eyes began to glow red as his eyes revealed what Neji's Byakugan could not. Right from the boy's point of view, Ranmaru detected strands of life energy seeping out from the rock pile. "Raiga..." he began to say, suddenly pushing himself off Karashi's back as he dragged himself to Raiga with all his strength. "You mean everything to me...I was waiting for death and you came along and saved me..." he said as he dragged himself closer and up the pile before finally wrapping his small body around one of Raiga's arms.

"Being with you was my life, i will not hold your funeral!" Ranmaru declared as his eyes began to glow. "Even it costs my life, I won't let you die!" said the boy as he began to transfer his chakra into Raiga.

* * *

Yue who was just beginning to descend the mountain, froze as she felt a large fluctuation of energy coming from the bottom. "I have to hurry!" she said to herself as she quickly picked up speed. Yue managed to make it just in time to see Ranmaru collapse into Karashi's arms but unfortunately was too late as she saw Raiga's arms beginning to quiver. Yue quickly jumped behind a rock just as a bolt of blue lightning came shooting down from the sky and striking Raiga's swords.

Yue watched in horror as the rock pile exploded and revealed Raiga back in full strength cackling evilly.

_'Kaori-sama was right!'_ Yue cried out mentally, fearing the worst now that Raiga has cheated Death a second time.

* * *

R.F: And the plot thickens...what's gonna happen now?


	21. The Story of Raika's Death

**Chapter 18: The Story of Raika's Death...  


* * *

**Back at the restaurant, the boys plus Kaori witnessed the large burst of lightning at the distance just as they finished sawing up the logs. "Wow, it looks like the storm is getting worse!"exclaimed Naruto.

"Let's get this done quickly," said Lee as the two boys began to carry the logs towards the restaurant.

Neji was about to follow until he saw a worried look on Kaori's face, still staring in the direction of where the Lightning struck. "Kaori?"

"That Lightning...it came from the Gold Mines...Yue please be safe..." Neji heard Kaori say in a fearful and worried voice, which made Neji concerned even more as he followed her gaze.

* * *

Back at the mines, Karashi crawled back slowly in fear seeing Raiga back on his feet even after his supposed 'death. "B-boss..." he choked out.

Raiga simply glanced at Karashi before his eyes rested on Ranmaru's body lying at his feet. Horror began to fill his eyes as Ranmaru's body was momentarily replaced with an image of a dead Kurosuki Raika lying face down and bloody. "No...Ranmaru!" called Raiga. "Please, wake up! Ranmaru!" he said more fearfully as he got down on his knees and picked up the boy's body and held it against his own.

"Ranmaru...come on stop playing dead, it's not funny!" said Raiga, shaking Ranmaru a little, desperately hoping the boy was faking it. When he still got no response, Raiga glared murderously at Karashi, who shifted back a lot further, nearing to the rock where Yue still remained hidden unknown to them.

**_"You...What did you do to Ranmaru?"_** he demanded in a threatening voice.

"H-hang on! I didn't do anything! R-ranmaru...h-he was gripping your hands tightly and then you came back to life!" explained Karashi hurriedly.

Raiga's eyes widened as he looked down at Ranmaru's seemingly lifeless body before closing his eyes and gripping the boy's small hands within his. "Ranmaru..." he thought sadly feeling no life within the boy as he set the body down gently.

Suddenly, Raiga turned to face Karashi as the man suddenly shot a bolt of blue Lightning in his direction. Fortunately, Karashi was able to dodge just as the blast hit rock smashing it to pieces. "I know you're there show yourself!" demanded Raiga looking around him.

Suddenly there was a rush of wings as Yue descended to the ground in Winged Beast Form, having jumped high into the air to avoid getting struck. Yue landed on the ground and folded her wings making them disappear. "Kurosuki Raiga, you've cheated death not once, but twice. How impressive..."

"Heh, so its you Cat. What ever happened to your _'Kaori-sama'_ you seem so intent on protecting?" sneered Raiga.

Yue growled audibly as she turned to Karashi who was frozen with fear. "Karashi-dono, I suggest you should get out of here before your blood will get spilt.." she growled menacingly.

Of course, Karashi wasted no time as he quickly scampered away from the scene and hid behind a rock that was a safe distance away. Yue then turned back to Raiga as she began to gather energy around her. "4 years ago, I was too helpless to protect Kaori-sama from you, but this time...I'M GOING TO MAKE SURE YOU WOULD NEVER HARM HER OR ANYBODY EVER AGAIN!" snarled Yue as began charging at Raiga.

"BRING IT!" yelled Raiga, as he dodged and threw a kick at Yue who blocked with her paws. The leopard quickly spun around and whacked Raiga hard with a Lightning infused tail. The hit connected sending the man spiraling into the ground. Yue immediately made a lunge at Raiga's neck, intending to crush it in her jaws, but was sent flying in another direction by a kick to the ribs by Raiga. Yue roared as she hit a nearby wall hard.

"Lightning Ball!" cried Raiga blasting at the leopard.

_"Roar of Raiju!"_ countered Yue blasting a huge bolt of electricity from her jaws.

The two attacks hit dead-on as both man and beast were blasted in different directions. Yue being closer to the blast felt the bulk of the force as she crashed into the rock wall again, this time cracking it. The leopard growled in pain as she tried to get up, her ears ringing loudly from the blast and her vision was spinning. Raiga on the other hand recovered quickly and charged,thrusting his swords forward. Yue was able to regain her senses quickly as she dodged, but unfortunately not quick enough as the spike on the blade nicked her back. Yue flinched a bit as she turned to face Raiga once more, blood flowing from the wound on her back. Yue snarled loudly as she launched herself at Raiga, her fangs bared and her claws out stretched, leaving her completely open in that one moment.

"Lightning Ball!" cried Raiga once more, sending a much larger Lightning blast at Yue.

This time Yue wasn't so lucky as the attack got her right between the eyes and exploded. A loud ringing and blinding light cause the leopard to roar in pain as Yue became deafened and blinded by the attack which blasted her into a large boulder. Yue twitched a little before staying still, having lost consciousness by the attack. Raiga sheathed his swords and walked up to Yue who had de-transformed and lay on the rocky ground unmoving. "Hmph, stupid cat..." he muttered kicking the kitten's body a little.

Karashi slowly tried to creep away from his hiding space when Raiga suddenly appeared in front of him, scaring the living daylights out Karashi. _"Tell me...whose fault is this?"_ demanded Raiga menacingly, pointing to Ranmaru's body while grabbing a fistful of Karashi's shirt and lifted him of the ground. "WAS IT YOU?"

"N-N-N-NO SIR! It was that girl, Kaori's fault! She and her friends from Konoha!" Karashi quickly answered in fear. " Please don't hurt me!"

**"Kaori!"** exclaimed Raiga, dropping a petrified Karashi on the ground. _"That's right...that evil Raijuko bitch... She's to blame for all this! She won't stop until she kills us all, just like** back then**_**!**" hissed the man.

"Screw the funeral for her, a _**monster like that Raijuko**_ deserves to be burnt to nothingness!" screamed Raiga with a deranged look in his eyes."Karashi, **_where is she?"_**

"I-I-I-I-I-I-I know where she is boss! I-I'll bring her to you! I'll bring them all!" stammered Karashi, scrambling to his feet. "This way!" he said as he lead Raiga up the mountain.

* * *

God knows how much time has passed since Yue passed out. The rumbling of distant thunder stirred the kitten awake as vision slowly came back to her eyes. Yue slowly pushed herself of the ground, her head pounding from the last attack she took. A sudden cough from Yue expelled blood from her mouth as the kitten licked her wounds. Suddenly she noticed Ranmaru lying not to far from her.

"Ranmaru-dono!" she exclaimed, running up to the boy.

Yue looked at the boy's face with sad eyes as she placed her paws on his face. "Ranmaru-dono...you gave up your life for Raiga...did you really cared for him that much?" asked Yue bowing her head in grief despite knowing she would get no answer. Suddenly, her ears picked up the faint yet distinct rythmic sound of breathing from Ranmaru. Yue slowly lifted her head to see Ranmaru twitch a little in pain.

_"R-Raiga!"_ Yue heard the boy strain to say before losing consciousness.

"You're alive!" exclaimed the kitten before a look of new-found determination crossed her face. Summoning whatever amount of energy she had left, Yue transformed into her Winged Beast form. Very carefully, the leopard used her wings to scoop the little boy onto her back and folded her wings over him to keep him safe from the rain that was beginning to fall. "Hang on Ranmaru-dono, don't die on me yet!" said the leopard as she began to claw her way up a rock wall.

Yue's wings acted as a cradle for Ranmaru's body as the leopard climbed higher and higher until she reached the top of the wall, where she saw the old wooden shack from earlier. The climb had exhausted Yue so she decided seek shelter at the shack for a while as rain began to pour down.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the restaurant the group was just finishing up reinforcing the place when Karashi suddenly came running up breathless. "There's trouble! Mother, there's trouble!"

"Oh my Karashi! Whatever is the matter?" asked Sansho worriedly as the others gathered around.

"It's Yue! She got buried in a rock slide!"

Horrified looks appeared on everyone's faces except for Kaori, whose suspicions became aroused, narrowing her eyes at Karashi. "How did it happen?" she demanded.

"I was running with her when a huge lightning bolt struck and hit the mountain side. I managed to get away but..."Karashi began to say trying to avoid her eyes. "I tried to dig her out but there was so much rocks..."

"Oh no!" exclaimed Sansho in shock.

"Quick! Maybe we could still save her if we hurry!" exclaimed Naruto as he ran off followed by Lee, Neji and Kaori.

* * *

Once they were some distance away from the restaurant, the boys heard Kaori say,"I don't trust him...Yue is far more versatile than that..."

"Huh?" asked Naruto in confusion,who fell back a little so that he was behind Kaori. "Kaori-san, what are you saying?"

"Nekojiwa cats, especially those born of Lightning, have reflexes that move practically at light speed! I do not believe that my dear Yue would easily be caught under a simple rock-slide even if she had broken all four of her legs!" snarled Kaori angrily.

"It seems that Karashi did not receive enough training," said Neji to Lee.

"I'm very sorry..."replied Lee feeling disappointed. "But why did he lie, do you suppose he's being threatened?"

"I know fear when I see it Lee-senpai..." replied Kaori running ahead of the group. " When I ran past him, I caught a fresh new stench of our old...**acquaintance..." **

The boys all widened their eyes when they realized what Kaori was getting at. "You don't mean...but I thought...Neji...!" Naruto began say in disbelief.

"It seems that I was wrong..." said Neji gravely as they picked up the pace. One thing was now clear within the group, especially with Kaori.

Kurosuki Raiga was alive...

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the shack, Ranmaru was having a very strange dream...

* * *

**_(Dream Sequence)_**

_In the dream, Ranmaru could see a little girl with blue hair__ floating off the ground covered in lightning with her eyes a glowing. It was apparent that the girl was unaware of what was happ__ening or what she was doing__. The girl looked familiar...almost like.._

_"Kaori-chan! Please, you have to wake up!" Ranmaru heard himself say. The strange thing was, the voice that came out wasn't even his own, it was that of a young woman. _

_"It's no use Raika, she's going out of control! We have to kill that Raijuko!" Ranmaru heard a familiar voice yell._

_'Raika? No way..then that means...' Ranmaru began to think before shifting his gaze to see a rather young looking Raiga, braced with his spike swords. "NO!" Ranmaru heard himself say firmly as he found himself shifting his body in front of Kaori and spreading his arms out in protection.  
_

_Raiga growled in frustration at Ranmaru..or Raika, in this case. "Raika, step aside, why should you protect an impure being like her?" he demanded.  
_

_"Kaori is not impure! She's just different!" Ranmaru, or rather Raika, shot back.  
_

_"SHE'S HAS THOSE CURSED POWERS!" roared Raiga angrily.  
_

_"They're abilities she was born with, Onii-sama! She was blessed by the Thunder Beast, not cursed! She just needs to learn how to control them!" **'Raika' **protested. Ranmaru could feel hot tears streaming down his face in desperation.  
_

_"THE GOD RAIJIN-SAMA WOULD NEVER LET HIS BEAST TOUCH THAT IMPURE DEMON BEHIND YOU!" the man yelled, raising his sword intending to strike Kaori.  
_

_"KAORI-CHAN!" shrieked **Raika **turning around just as Raiga brought down his sword as a bright flash blinded Ranmaru's eyes.

* * *

_"RAIGA!" screamed Ranmaru, awaking with a start.

"Ranmaru-dono, what is wrong?" asked a startled Yue, who was still in Beast Form. It turns out that the whole time Ranmaru had been asleep, Yue had used her own body as a bed for the boy and her wings as a blanket.

Ranmaru was breathing very hard. The dream he had, it was so vivid, so real. He felt everything, the panic, the desperation, all the emotions that he experienced as Raika. "Yue-san...where's Raiga?"

"He's alive thanks to you. Are you alright?"

"I think so..."

Yue placed her nose to his forehead. "Are you sure? You're burning up!" exclaimed Yue as she began to use her tail to fan the boy.

"Ne...Yue-san?"

"Hai?"

"What really happened to Raiga's sister years ago?"

Yue paused at the sudden unexpected question,before putting her tail down. "I suppose it is inevitable that you would want to to know..." Yue began to say sadly. "My eyes had only just opened when it happened, and it is the one memory I can't forget..."

* * *

**_On that fateful day, Kaori-sama was once again on her own. Raika-sama was called out on important business at the time, so she had left Kaori-sama in the care of two of her most trusted disciples, Nanami and Yamako._**

_Chibi Kaori sat at the foot of a tree looking at the sun shining through the leaves. Without the presence of Raika, Kaori feared getting bullied by the other disciple miko, so she kept out of their way when she could. A slightly bigger Yue, now with her eyes opened, poked her head out of Kaori's sleeve and mewed, since she hadn't learned how to talk yet. Kaori looked down and smiled a little. Suddenly she saw a shadow cast over her. Kaori turned her head just as Yue hid in Kaori's sleeve once more._

_"Yo, Kaori-chan!" greeted a cheerful woman with short blond hair. By her side was another miko with long pitch black hair._

_"Oh, Nanami-san...Yamako-san..."_

_"Ne, Kaori-chan, do you want to go herb picking with us?" asked Nanami, her blond hair bouncing._

_Kaori's eyes brightened at the invitation but dulled quickly when Kaori suppressed her emotions. "Ok..." she replied, getting up and followed the two miko, unaware of the sneaky glances the two were giving each other._

_**You should recall, Ranmaru-dono, that Kaori-sama was despised for being a Raijuko so she didn't really have any friends. She had been in the care of Nanami and Yamako many times, so she trusted them as much as Raika did.**  
_

_..._

_It took while before the trio had reached a large field and began gathering the herbs that grew in bunches around the area. _

_**Kaori-sama was unaware that the particular field the two disciples had lead her to was quite a distance away from the temple, and happen to conveniently be located in a remote area. My poor Lady... she had no idea of what had been planned for her that day...**_

_Engrossed in looking out for useful herbs, young Kaori did not realize that she was being led further and further away from the temple until she noticed the sky getting overcast. She looked towards the ominous sky, a strange feeling inside her that danger was approaching._

_"Ne, Nanami-san, Yamako-san...it's going to rain...we should go back..." Kaori began to say before beginning to make her way back. It was then she realized that the two had not responded at all, making her turn to see them standing behind her, smiling eeriely at her._

_"Ara, what's the hurry Kaori-chan? Afraid?" asked Yamako, her voice sounding a bit sinister._

_ Kaori began to back up uneasily a little, only to bump into Nanami, who looked at her now with a dark sinister smile on her face. "And where do you think you're going, little Raijuko?"_

_"Y-yamak-ko-san, N-nanami-san, w-what is this about? P-please, let's go back to the temp-p-p-ple..." Kaori stammered, beginning to feel frightened._

_"P-please, let's go back to the temp-p-p-ple..." mimicked Nanami mockingly, before glaring at the girl. "Oh we're going back soon enough, the only difference is you__ won't be with us," she said._

___Now, Kaori was really afraid as she tried to make a break for it. _

___"Not so fast you brat!" yelled Nanami as she and Yamako pulled out Spirit Seals from their sleeves and threw them at Kaori._

___Kaori was able to dodge most of them swiftly thanks to her fast reflexes but unfortunately, luck was not on her side as she got struck by the last seal, which quickly immobilized her limbs as she fell forward. Yue got thrown out of Kaori's sleeve in to a nearby bush as a result. _

___"Yue!" cried out the little girl just as Nanami and Yamako caught up to her._

___"QUIET YOU BRAT!" screamed Nanami, kicking the girl hard, causing her to roll a bit._

___Kaori cringed in pain from the kick, as electricity began to spark all over her body. "Wh-why?"_

___The girls scrunched their faces in annoyance as they began kicking and stepping on Kaori over and over again. "**WHY? YOU CAME IN AND TOOK AWAY RAIKA-SAMA FOR YOURSELF, THAT'S WHY!"** Nanami screamed again, her kicks getting harder with each word._

___**"WE'VE BEEN TRAINING AND STUDYING HARD FOR YEARS SINCE WE WERE TODDLERS FOR THE RARE PRIVILEGE TO BECOME RAIKA-SAMA'S DISCIPLES AND YOU LITTLE CHARITY CASE JUST SHOWS UP AND INSTANTLY BECOMES HER FAVORITE? WHAT A JOKE!" **spat Yamako this time. **"You're nothing but a little circus freak looking for sympathy!"**_

___All this time, Kaori had her eyes closed, trying her best to withstand the pain from the repeating kicking. Tears were beginning to form at her eyes as she slowly felt herself losing control of her powers._

___**"YOU. DON'T. BELONG. ANYWHERE!" **the girls screamed as they were about to deliver the final blow when Kaori heard the running of feet followed by sickening squishes and the ghastly screams of Nanami and Yamako._

___Kaori slowly opened her eyes to find herself staring into the dead eyes of the girls, making her jolt and trying to squirm away from them as her limbs were still immobilized. She looked up to see a familiar man looking down at her splattered with blood. Kaori widened her eyes in horror at the wet, crimson blood dripping from the pair of spiked swords in his hands as the man took a step towards her. "Kaori..." he began to say, when Kaori gave a small scream and desperately tried to wriggle away. As she did, more electricity began to form around her body._

___"Raiga...Stay back! Don't come near me!" she warned desperately._

___"Kao-"_

___**"STAY AWAY FROM MEEEEEEEE!" **shrieked the girl. **Ba-BUMP!** Went her heart as it skipped a beat, unleashing a huge burst of energy from the girl's body, blasting Raiga and the corpses of the two disciples away._

___Kaori's eyes began to glaze over and glow a bright blue as her body began to float off the ground. The burst of electricity was so strong it burned off the Spirit Seal from her back. Raiga landed on his feet and quickly began dodging some of the stray bolts of energy coming in his direction. _

___"Onii-sama!" he heard Raika call out to him. He turned to see his sister come running._

___"Raika, stay back!" warned Raiga ditching his swords as he jumped forward and tackled her out of the way just seconds before a bolt of electricity struck the ground were she was._

___The two hit the ground rolling with Raiga protectively hugging his sister. Raika gasped when she saw the two disciples dead not to far from them. She looked at her brother sadly. "I had to Raika, I'm sorry..." apologized the swordsman gravely. _

___Raika kneeled and bowed her head in prayer at the two corpses before standing up. "What's done is done, Raiga-niisama. Right now, we have to stop Kaori!" she said as her brother stood up._

___"Alright!" agreed Raiga, running to grab his swords while Raika ran ahead towards Kaori, dodging lightning bolts. Raiga immediately came in as back-up and used his words to re-direct some electricity away from his sister. The discharged energy began to get stronger with every minute passing._

___Raika quickly pulled out a few Spirit Seals and threw them at Kaori, only to disintegrate on impact. "Kaori-chan! Please, you have to wake up!" she called out desperately while Raiga appeared beside her, deflecting an oncoming lightning bolt._

___"It's no use Raika, she's going out of control! We have to kill that Raijuko!" yelled Raiga raising his swords._

___"NO!" cried out Raika firmly standing in front of Kaori and spread her arms out in an attempt to shield the girl._

___"Raika, step aside! Why should you protect an impure being like her?" demanded her brother angrily._

___"Kaori-chan is not impure! She's just different!" Raika shot back with hot tears running down her face.  
_

___"SHE HAS THOSE CURSED POWERS!"_

___"They are abilities she was born with Onii-sama! She was blessed by the Thunder Beast, not cursed! She just needs to learn how to control them!"_

___"RAIJIN-SAMA WOULD NEVER ALLOW HIS BEAST TOUCH THAT IMPURE DEMON BEHIND YOU!" roared Raiga who began to charge forward with his sword raised and jumped over his sister to deliver the killing blow.  
_

___"KAORI-CHAN!" cried Raika as she jumped up at the last minute and hugged the girl just as Raiga brought down his sword._

___**SHHHICK!** Went the ghastly sound of metal slicing through skin as Raika let out a ghastly shriek. Her blood flew through the air and splattered on Kaori's face and robes, snapping her out of her trance as the two fell to the ground._

___Kaori slowly came two as she found her self lying beside Raika. "Sensei!" the girl cried sitting up when she saw the huge bloody gash across her sensei's back. Blood trickled from Raika's mouth as the miko slowly turned her head towards Kaori and smiled weakly as she began to move her lips in a barely audible whisper over and over again. Kaori leaned in closely._

___"For..give...h...Kaori..."she heard Raika whisper._

___"Sensei! Don't die, please!"_

___"Ka..ori-chan...treasure your powers...they are a gift...from Kami-sama... I-I-I have done... my p-part...now..you..h-ha-ve...to..grow on..your own...it is ..hitsuzen after all..." Raika whispered slowly as Kaori's tears began to drip on her face.  
_

___"No...Raika..."said a horrified Raiga dropping his swords as he pushed Kaori out of the way and picked up his sister's body gently and cradled it against his own."No...please don't ...Raika!" cried the man, as tears began to run down his face. "You're all I have left..."_

___"Dai..jo..bu..O...nii..sama..this...i-is hits-s-su..zen..." whispered Raika weakly. "Kaori..onegai..for...gi...her.." Raiga heard her say._

___"What about Kaori? What is it?"_

___"Ka..ori...her..."whispered Raika before taking her final breath._

___"Raika? RAIKA!" screamed the man tearfully as he cried and hugged his sister's corpse tightly._

___Tears began to flood uncontrollably from a horrified Kaori's eyes as she watched the light leaving her sensei's eyes. "No...Raika-sensei...No...No..."she whispered in disbelief as electricity began to build up around her once more.  
_

___**"YOU!"** snarled Raiga angrily placing his sister's body down and picking up his swords and slowly walking up to the little girl who was so deep in shock that she made no move to escape. Instead she kept on whispering, "No...Raika-sensei...No..."_

___**"This is YOUR fault! You killed my SISTER!" **roared Raiga as he raised his sword once more._

___**"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...!"**shrieked Kaori at the top of her lungs while clutching her head as the clouds in the sky crashed with thunder and lightning, drowning out her voice as a bolt of blue lightning came shooting down from the clouds and struck Kaori like a lightning rod._

___Raiga stared in shock as the little girl's shriek slowly transitioned into that of a beast's roar as the lightning that struck Kaori got absorbed into her body and emerged as a huge cat made entirely out of blue lightning. It's eyes glowed white as it stared at Raiga and growled._

___"It can't be...the Raiju?"_

___Suddenly, the lightning cat let out a deafening roar and pounced on Raiga as his screams rang through the air.

* * *

_Ranmaru looked shocked at the same time awed at the story. "What happened after that?" he asked.

Yue shook her head. "To tell you the truth I wasn't sure. That blast from the Raiju had knocked me unconscious. When I came to, I found myself back at the temple in Kaori-sama's room. I saw her huddled in a corner, still covered blood, curled up and rocking back and forth, obviously traumatized. I later found out that the other miko came running to the field when they saw the lighting struck and found Kaori-sama in that state surrounded by the scorched bodies of the others, including Raiga. Naturally, everyone assumed him dead. I even had witnessed his burial. But somehow...it seems that the last attack merely gave him an apparent death..." explained the leopard.

"So that explains Raiga's obsession with funerals...but what about his powers?"

"Thinking back, I have a theory. When he was struck by the Raiju, I believe that Kaori's powers had gotten mixed with his own Lightning chakra...and if I'm right then that means..."

"Raiga-san...is a pseudo-Raijuko..."finished Ranmaru before suddenly breaking out into a series of violent coughing.

A rattling was heard caused by the strong winds outside beating upon the shack. Yue narrowed her eyes. _'It's not safe here...we better head back to Sansho-baasan's place,_' noted the leopard mentally as she scooped Ranmaru and adjusted him on her back, folding her wings over him.

She then gently pushed the door open with her paws and ran out into the storm as fast as she could. Rain was pouring down hard, soaking Yue's fur. Just then, a familiar scent caught on the wind blew in Yue's direction, causing to look towards a nearby mountain. "Kaori-sama...don't die..."she whispered before making a dash up the mountain side.

* * *

**Elsewhere...

* * *

**There was a loud clap of thunder as Raiga sensed the oncoming group. "SO YOU'VE ARRIVED!" he roared as the group appeared in a giant leap. Raiga and Kaori immediately locked glares with each other.

**"Raiga!"**hissed the girl menacingly.

**"Kaori!" **roared Raiga in response charging his swords with electricity.

Kaori landed neatly on her feet and was about to make a forward dash but Naruto beat her to it as he began charging towards Raiga. "Naruto, no!"

"Lee, stop him!" commanded Neji, quickly restraining Kaori. "Kaori, you stay!"

Without a moment to lose, Lee dashed forward and rammed into Naruto from the side just seconds before getting struck by a lightning bolt. The two hit the ground rolling simultaneously. "What the hell? That lightning felt different!" exclaimed Naruto.

Kaori stared in shock as she recognized the energy. "This is...real lightning...how is this possible?..Only Raijuko should have that kind of ability!"

"What!" exclaimed the boys in shock.

Kaori quickly turned to Neji. "Senpai, you have to let me go! Lightning has no effect on someone like me, I can take him!"

"No! Stay here and that's an order!" ordered Neji sternly, keeping an iron grip on the girl.

Kaori kept silent as she stopped struggling and bowed her head. "Neji-senpai...forgive me..." she muttered as Kaori began to spark with electricity, resulting in Neji receiving a minor jolt, forcing him to let go as his body went limp.

"Neji!" yelled Lee upon seeing what happened.

"Kaori, what's gotten into you?" demanded Naruto, stepping front of the girl.

"I'm sorry boys, but this is between me and Raiga..." she said placing an individual hand on each boy and knocking them out with a minor jolt as well. Kaori narrowed her eyes as she summoned her Cat Sash Bells and gripped them tightly, walking towards Raiga.

"Hmph, how typical of you to take down your own team mates!" sneered Raiga mockingly walking towards the girl.

"You have no right to say so..." retorted Kaori as her walk became a slow jog.

The same went for Raiga. Gathering electricity into their respective weapons, the two began increasing their speed until it came to the point where they both began charging at each other head on and screaming their battle cries.

* * *

Meanwhile, Yue had finally reached the restaurant just in time to see Karashi holding a small suitcase along with trying to drag his mother out of the restaurant with some difficulty considering she had a firm grip on the door frame.

"Karashi! What is this about?" demanded the bewildered old woman as Karashi tried to pull her free of the door frame.

"I can't explain Okaa-chan, we have to leave now!"yelled Karashi desperately but stopped when he heard a growl behind him, making him freeze. He slowly turned his head to see Yue walking up snarling a little."YUE! You're alive!"

Sansho widened her eyes at the kittens Leopard form. "Oh my, talk about about a growth spurt!"

"What's the hurry Karashi-dono? We have plenty of time for you to explain..."the leopard said smirking.**"Now GET INSIDE, Karashi!"** she snarled making the man cringe and grab his stuff before scurrying back inside.

Yue then polite bowed to the old woman as she followed her inside."Sansho-Obaasan, please may I borrow a futon? Ranmaru has fallen ill," requested the leopard, unfolding her wings to reveal the boy's sleeping body kept nice and dry thanks to Yue, despite her dripping wet fur.

"Oh my! Right away! Karashi quick get a futon and a towel from upstairs!" ordered the old woman sharply. Her son obeyed quickly running upstairs before reappearing shortly back down with and laid it down on the floor. Sansho quickly helped tuck the boy into the futon while Yue finally de-transformed, shaking her wet fur dry while she allowed Sansho to wrap her up in a warm towel. Karashi then quickly formed a wet compress out of another small towel and pressed it against Ranmaru's forehead while his mother helped wipe the dirt of Ranmaru."Yue, however did this happen?"

...

After a few minutes of explaining...and kow-towing from Karashi...

...

"Oh you idiot!" scolded Sansho, whacking her son on the head hard with her ladle. Karashi cringed as he rubbed the bump on his head.

"OW! It can't be helped now since Boss is alive again...what other choice do we have? We need to run!" said the boy desperately, while his mother still frowned deeply at him.

Yue shook her head before crawling out from under the towel, her fur now mostly dry. "If you want run, then go ahead," she said as she walked up to Ranmaru's face and placed a paw. "I promised myself that I am going to save this child, and I will!"

There was a stunned silence as Karashi and Sansho stared in surprise at the kitten's determination. "Well then, in that case I'd better make him my special Curry of Life!" said Sansho smiling warmly before walking towards the kitchen. Yue nodded as she stayed close to Ranmaru, monitoring his temperature. Karashi simply gave a frustrated growl as he stomped upstairs.

* * *

Elsewhere, the battle between Raiga and Kaori rages on as the two repeatedly clashed with each other. Electricity sparked and flew all over the place as the weapons repeatedly came into contact with each other.

**_"Why can't die you just properly?"_** screamed Kaori as used the sash on her weapon to swing the bells around while Raiga dodged them effortlessly.

"And miss a chance to kill my sister's murderer? **Not. A. Chance!"**replied Raiga, slashing at Kaori, who tried to avoid the sword but it was to late as she fell to the ground, her weapons disappearing from her hands.

A sharp pain caused Kaori to place a hand to her side. She felt something warm and sticky flowing out. Kaori looked at her fingers in horror to see them smeared with blood. For a brief moment, the image of blood spatter from that fateful day flashed in her mind, causing Kaori to begin trembling. Raiga spotted this and began to smile in glee. "How lovely! The color of your blood against my blade...I've been dreaming this moment!" exclaimed Raiga happily with a crazed look in his eyes as he used his fingers to wipe the blood off the blade and looked at it. "But unfortunately for you, I'm not satisfied by this..." he said as he glanced over to Kaori who was slowly trying to get up due to the pain from her side.

Raiga couldn't look any happier as he began to walk towards Kaori who began retreating steps as she pressed her wound trying to stop the bleeding. "I am going to make sure that you die slowly and painfully Raijuko..."

"Stay away from her!" yelled Rock Lee as he suddenly appeared and kicked Raiga away from Kaori.

"Lee-senpai!" exclaimed Kaori in surprise to see Lee back on his feet so quickly."How-"

"Tend to your wound Kaori-san, I'll take over from here!" said Lee as he took his fighting stance and faced Raiga.

"No you can't! He's too powerful for you! It's me he wants, and he won't stop until one of us is dead!"

"How do you think Hikari-chan and Cori-chan would feel if you died? How do you think your whole family would feel? And what about Yue? She has struggled hard to protect you and constantly worries for you! Don't let her efforts be for naught!" scolded Lee harshly.

Kaori didn't reply at all as she bowed her head. "Gomenasai..." she said.

Lee then smiled at her before facing Raiga once more."Kurosuki Raiga, I will not let you harm Kaori-san as long as I am here!" he declared.

Raiga snorted as he twirled his swords in his hands. "God, you are so stupid... When will it get into that small brain of yours that there is no good in protecting that monster behind you?"

"Kaori-san is no monster! She is as human as I am! Burying people alive, bullying the weak, the real monster here is **_you__!_**"

Raiga's eye twitched at Lee's retort. "Find have it your way!" he roared as began to summon and directed it at Lee and Kaori.

"Kaori-san!" yelled Lee as he grabbed the girl bridal style and jumped out of the way of the lighting.

"You can't protect that girl forever!" taunted Raiga as he continued sending lightning bolt after lightning bolt at the two.

Kaori winced as she clutched at her wound which was beginning to bleed again from all the movement. Lee noticed this and furrowed his brow in concern. Quickly ducking behind a huge boulder, Lee gently set her down. "Will you be alright, Kaori-san?" asked Lee while Kaori took slow deep breaths.

"I will. I did learn a bit of Medical Ninjutsu for times like this..."

Lee nodded and grinned at Kaori. "In that case, I will help distract Raiga while you heal yourself!" he exclaimed with a determined look in his eyes.

"Senpai..." said Kaori a little surprised before nodding.

Lee smiled and gave her a thumbs up for luck as he ran out from their hiding place. Seeing Lee's determination gave Kaori a new sense of courage as she began to form the signs for the Mystical Palm Jutsu and began to heal herself slowly.

* * *

Meanwhile back at the Curry Restaurant, Sansho was trying very hard to recreate the Curry of Life to give to Ranmaru but so far her efforts had been unsuccessful as Ranmaru would not wake up no matter how many variations of curry she had fed him. There was such a strong smell of blended spices in the air that poor Yue quickly ran upstairs so she could breathe a little. The moment she did Yue heard the sounds of Karashi pacing the floor of his room muttering repeatedly to himself. She poked her head through his bedroom doorway to see him doing just that.

"What to do? What to do? If we don't leave we're as good as dead!" she heard him say.

"I find it hard to believe that Lee-dono sees potential in you..." Yue said out loud getting his attention.

"Oh shut up, you furball!" snapped Karashi.

"How is it that a coward like you could possibly make life-saving curry? Seeing you right now is just so horribly pathetic...I do pity your poor mother so..."said Yue bluntly before quickly jumping out of the way to dodge a flying pillow from Karashi.

"Shut up! What does a cat like you know?"

Yue shook her head at Karashi sadly. "Enough to know what is the right thing to do..." she simply replied as she bounded down the stairs leaving Karashi feeling angry and humiliated at the same time.

Yue stopped and peeked into the kitchen to see Ranmaru had awaken but was refusing to eat the curry that Sansho was offering with a spoon.

"Please, child. You'll feel better once you've eaten this,"urged Sansho gently.

Ranmaru shook his head and pursed his lips together, causing Sansho to release a worried sigh. "Oh dear..." she sighed.

_'Ranmaru-dono...'_ Yue thought, greatly concerned when suddenly she noticed Karashi walk past her and to the pot of curry. "Karashi-dono?"

"You messed up the spices, Oka-chan," he said taking a small taste from the pot.

Sansho turned her head in surprise to see her son taking a small jar of chili powder and dump all of it's contents into the pot before beginning to stir it. "Oh my!" she exclaimed in surprise. "Karashi, do you mean you still remember the recipe for the curry?"

Karashi didn't reply as he wordlessly kept putting in seasoning's and other ingredients. Yue took her place by Ranmaru's side once more and looked at Karashi in surprise to the point she didn't even noticed the smell anymore.

After a few minutes, Karashi was ready with a new plate of the curry and handed it to his mother, who once again tried to urge Ranmaru to eat it but was refused. "Oh Ranmaru please! You must eat it to get your strength back!" pleaded Sansho desperately but Ranmaru shook his head stubbornly.

"BAKA!" snapped Yue slapping the boy's forehead with her tail, startling everyone in the room.

Ranmaru rubbed the red mark on his forehead and looked at Yue stunned. The kitten glared at the boy angrily. "Why do you reject the efforts of these people? They're trying to save your life!"

The boy appeared to be confused by this outburst. "But why?..."

"To save the life of another...does one really need a reason?" replied Yue calming down. "I could have left you on that mountain side, but I didn't. Karashi-dono and Sansho-dono could have chosen to run away from danger but they didn't. We all chose to stay and help because it is the right thing to do... if you don't see the worth of it then I'm sorry I ever took pity on you..."

Yue's words struck Ranmaru deeply as they slowly began to make sense to him. He glanced up at Sansho who smiled warmly at him and then at Karashi who averted his eyes a little with a small blush on his cheeks. "Anyway, you don't have to eat the whole thing, one bite should be sufficient enough," he said awkwardly.

Ranmaru nodded slowly as he opened his mouth for Sansho to feed him the curry. It wasn't long before Ranmaru sat up and began eating the whole plate of curry eagerly, much to the delight of the others in the room.

"Was it good?" asked Yue as soon as Ranmaru put down his plate.

The boy looked at the cat and nodded a little. "That's the feeling of being alive," explained the kitten smiling at Ranmaru, who appeared to be surprised. Someone like himself who has never experienced such a feeling, it felt wonderful and it gave him energy. It made him feel like he could do anything.

Tears began running down his face from being overwhelmed by the feeling. "I..I want Raiga-san...to eat this curry..." he said softly.

Yue placed a paw on the boy's hand and looked up at him. "Well then, let's go give it to him."

* * *

Elsewhere, Kaori 's wound still had not fully healed as she poked her head out from her hiding spot to still see Lee engaged in fierce battle. She could see he was having difficulty getting close to Raiga who kept using lightning to keep Lee at bay. It had begun to rain heavily once more and Kaori was soaked through and through.

_'Why is it that he can harness the power of natural Lightning? Such a feat should be impossible for a normal human unless he is a Raijuko like me...'_thought Kaori as she watched Raiga's movements. Then she recalled how Raiga had accused her of cursing him when it struck her. _'Could it be... that the curse was when he was attacked by my Raiju...could it be that my powers got embedded into him?...'_

"DIE!" screamed Raiga as he summoned and extra large Lightning bolt from the sky and sent it down on Lee. Kaori watched in horror as Lee was unable to dodge in time. The boy screamed in pain loudly as volts of energy was sent coursing through his body.

However, even when the attack stopped, Lee was still standing. "I won't let you hurt my friend!" he declared looking even more determined than ever as he shakily walked up to Raiga who looked at him in Kaori appeared to be extremely surprised at Lee's tenacity.

"Lee-senpai..." she whispered as tears began to run down her face slowly getting mixed with the rain drops on her skin.

* * *

**_R.F.: So now you know the truth behind Raika's death. Would Ranmaru and Yue be able to arrive in time to stop the battle? Would Naruto and Neji ever wake up? Is Kaori going to find her strength to defeat __Raiga? Too many questions! Find out for yourself in the next chapter! And be sure to review okay? Bye now!_**


	22. Roar of the Raijuko!

**Chp 19: Roar of The Raijuko

* * *

R.F.: The final battle between Raiga and Kaori begins...

* * *

** Raiga watched in disbelief as Lee was still able to stand despite being repeatedly struck by lightning. "Why are you willing to go so far for that Raijuko?" asked Raiga.

Lee swayed a bit on feet before steadying himself. "Raijuko or not...Kaori-san...I admit I do not know her so well... but all the same, she is a ninja of Konoha and therefore my comrade, my friend!" he declared standing straight. "And there's nothing I won't do to protect my friends, that's my nindo!"

Raiga scrunched his face up in distaste. "Well your nindo is stupid if it means you are going to protect someone like her!" he cried as Raiga lifted his swords above his head and summoned a huge surge of lightning towards him. _"Ninpo..."_he began to say as he started to spin around creating a lightning tornado. _"Lightning Dragon Tornado!"_

Lee gaped as the lightning tornado grew larger and taller until it formed a dragon with blazing red eyes. Kaori gasped as she recognized the feel of it's form. "Could it be? Raiga's Raiju?" she exclaimed in disbelief. This only confirmed her suspicions about Raiga's powers even more as the dragon looked at Lee. It roared loudly as it came down on Lee.

"SENPAAAIII!" cried Kaori in horror as she saw getting electrocuted once more in the dragon before getting thrown out and over the mountainside. _"LEE-SENPAI!_

* * *

"Hustle! Hustle!" urged Sansho as she pushed her son to run faster up the mountain path.

"I'm running, I'm running!" replied Karashi looking over his shoulder. "Don't push! I'll spill the curry at this rate!"

"Less talk, more speed!" ordered Sansho pushing her son even faster.

Karashi desperately tried to keep himself steady as he tried to pick up speed with some difficulty. A large curry pot was being carried on his back in a large knapsack along with a ladle and some wrapped up plates of rice. Yue was running ahead of the two in Beast form while Ranmaru held on tightly to her back. They occasionally stopped to wait for the other two before continuing their run.

"Hurry, Yue, hurry!" urged Ranmaru.

"I'll do my best Ranmaru-dono!" ensured Yue as she began to pick up speed. "We'll go ahead!" she yelled over her shoulder as Yue jumped of the mountain path into the air. _"Winged Beast Jutsu!"_ Yue yelled as her fangs grew longer and her wings sprouted from her back in a puff of smoke. Giving them a good flap, Yue and Ranmaru soared high into the air and disappeared from sight.

"Oh my!" exclaimed Sansho in surprise.

...

While Yue and Ranmaru were already a good distance away from the two, Ranmaru noticed a familiar figure wedged between some rocks. "Lee-san?" he said curiously.

Yue noticed him as well as she flew down to him. He was unconscious and obviously stunned but he was very much alive. Yue could see the smoke rising from his body which she suspected was from being electrocuted. "Lee-san? Are you okay?"" asked Ranmaru when suddenly, Lee flopped forward and went splat on the ground at their like a piece of limp noodle.

"Lee-dono? Wake up! This is no time to be unconscious!" yelled Yue exasperatedly as she shook him hard with her paw.

"Hustle! Hustle!" she then heard Sansho as she and her son finally caught up with then.

"I can't run anymore!" exclaimed an exhausted Karashi as he sat down on the ground hard.

"Sansho-baasan, quick the Curry of Life!" said Ranmaru urgently as he slid of Yue's back.

"I'm on it!" replied the old woman as she prepared two plates of curry before knocking Karashi hard on the head. "Alright you! Go bring this to Kaori-san, Neji-san and Naruto-san! We'll take care of Lee-san here!" she ordered.

"Hai, Okaa-chan!" replied Karashi hurriedly as he grabbed the plates and began running up the pathway.

The moment he disappeared from sight, Sansho turned to Ranmaru and Yue. "Alright you two, help me open Lee's mouth while I pour him the curry!" Sansho instructed.

The other two nodded as Yue pulled open Lee's lower jaw while Ranmaru pulled on his top jaw. Taking one big scoop of the curry from the pot, Sansho poured the whole ladle into Lee's mouth to the point his face swelled like a melon before the two let go. The group watched intently as Lee began to chew and swallowed the curry in one big gulp, returning him back to his normal color but still remained unconscious. "I guess even the curry was no good..." Sansho began to say sadly.

Suddenly, Lee's eyes popped open as he snatched the ladle from a shocked Sansho with such force she got tossed into the air but was quickly caught by Ranmaru and Yue. "Heavens!" she exclaimed as Lee began to eat the curry straight from the pot much to the surprise of the three.

* * *

Meanwhile, Karashi had arrived at the top of the mountain as saw Kaori, who spotted him as well. "Karashi-san..." she almost exclaimed as the boy came up to her and bowed his head.

"Kaori-san, I'm very sorry for lying! I truly am, please forgive me!" he pleaded. "Here take this!" he said placing the plate of curry in her hands.

Kaori eyed the plate before looking at Karashi before shaking her head. "Alright, fine. But only because you came back to help," she said as she took a bite of the curry.

Suddenly her eyes popped wide open as flames erupted from her mouth, startling Karashi. "I think I've had enough..." she muttered as she gave the plate back to Karashi, who nodded and went to find Naruto and Neji.

It wasn't long before he did. Karashi received the exact same reaction from Naruto who quickly ate the curry. In Neji's case, it was only one bite but it caused his eyes to pop open before the boy fell unconscious again, much to Karashi's confusion.

* * *

Back with Sansho, Ranmaru and Yue, Lee had actually ate the whole pot of curry and turned with a weird grin on his face. He suddenly stood up straight with his head in the air like a soldier.

"Looks like he's all better," stated Sansho when Lee started wobbling like a jelly stick before flopping, his forehead hitting the ground.

"Or not..." said Yue bluntly.

Lee wiggled a little before he held his head up and laughed a little. His face was slightly flushed and wore a goofy expression on his face which was quickly replaced by a sick one. Slowly his jaw dropped to the ground followed by his whole body like a worm. "The world is spinning~..." they heard him say in a drunk voice.

"What's the matter with him?" asked Ranmaru in confusion.

Yue caught a whiff of Lee's breath. "Is that wine I smell?"

"Oh dear..." muttered Sansho as she realized what was causing Lee to act like a goof.

* * *

**_A while back..._**

_While Ranmaru and Yue were eating in order to replenish their energy, Sansho had gotten out a large knapsack and held it open. "Hurry and put the curry in here," she instructed._

_"Hai!" said Karashi as he lifted the heavy pot, accidentally knocking a bottle of red wine into the curry, splashing some into Karashi's eyes. "Hot!Hot!Hot!" he yelled involuntarily dropping the pot on his foot._

_"YEOW!" he exclaimed again clutching his throbbing foot when he banged his head against the wall, causing a wash basin to fall on his head. Poor Karashi slumped on the floor slightly dazed when he saw the wine bottle sticking out of the curry, it's contents slowly sinking. "Oh no, the curry!" he exclaimed as he tried to fish the bottle out only to find that remaining contents had already spilled out and mixed into the curry. "Oh boy..."_

_"Oh well, there's no helping it, let's just put the curry into the bag and hurry!" said Sansho.

* * *

_"He must be drunk due to the wine..." groaned Yue slapping her forehead.

"Is he going to be alright?" asked Ranmaru.

"We have a problem..." muttered Sansho as Lee got back on his feet and began spinning and laughing like crazy.

Just then, the sound of thunder diverted the group's attention away from Lee. Carefully, Sansho, Ranmaru and Yue peeked around the corner and saw Raiga walking by the cliff edge. "Raiga..."growled Yue in distaste. "I'll take care of him..."

"No Yue...I'll do it. Maybe if he see's that I'm alive he'll stop..."suggested Ranmaru.

Yue looked into the boy's eyes and softened her expression. _'You really are like her...'_ "Ok, I trust you Ranmaru-dono..."

The boy nodded as he carefully made his way up the mountain. Yue followed closely behind careful to make herself unseen. Sansho smiled a the two she turned around to mind Lee only to find him gone. "Oh my, where did he go?"

* * *

On the mountain top, Kaori continued to stay out of sight as she darted between rocks. She had managed to stop her wound from bleeding and closed it but as said before the wound was completely healed as it still pained her.

"Oh Kaori?... Where are you?...You can't hide forever you know?.." taunted Raiga in a creepy sing-song voice.

Kaori pressed her back against a boulder and peeked out. On the other end of the mountain top, she saw a small figure appear before Raiga, who apparently noticed as well. Raiga obviously assumed the figure to be Lee when he said, "So you're still alive? I'm going to make sure you die this time-"

"Raiga," the small figure said, to which both Raiga and Kaori recognized as Ranmaru.

"Ranmaru?" asked Raiga in pleasant surprise. "You're alive!"

_"Kaori-sama!" _Kaori heard a familiar voice whisper. The girl turned to see Yue's leopard form sitting by her.

_"Yue! Oh thank goodness!_" exclaimed/whispered Kaori throwing her arms around the leopard's neck and hugged her. Yue rubbed her head against Kaori's before the two peeked out again to see Ranmaru and Raiga. _"Raiga... how did he survive?"_

_"You won't believe this my Lady, but Ranmaru brought him back to life with his own chakra..."_

Kaori looked at Yue startled. _"But such a feat should have taken his own life, how is that he survived?"_

_"He was weak but I managed to get him to the restaurant and made him eat some of the Curry of Life," _explained Yue.

_"Sugoi..."_

Meanwhile, Raiga had raced up to Ranmaru and lifted him high before putting him on his shoulder. Raiga had appeared to calmed down a lot judging from how overjoyed he was to be reunited with Ranmaru. "Now we can be together again, Ranmaru! After I kill that Raijuko and her friends, let's just go on to do bad things!"

"Sure thing Raiga..." replied Ranmaru, smiling softly.

Before looking towards the sky. Suddenly the boy's eyes began to glow red and a thick fog erupted from his clothes and surrounded him and Raiga, who looked around in confusion. "What's up with this fog?"

"It's okay Raiga, I'll be your eyes," said Ranmaru reassuringly.

"Yes, there is nothing to fear with you around!" said Raiga smiling at Ranmaru. "But what happened to them?"

Ranmaru paused for a moment. "They are dead and that Raijuko seems to have bled to death."

Raiga's eyes widened in happiness at the news. "YEEESS! RAIKA, DID YOU HEAR THAT? I'VE TAKEN VENGEANCE ON YOUR DEATH! YOUR MURDERER IS DEAD!" he cried out joyfully to the sky. "Come Ranmaru! Let's celebrate this day!"

"Hai, Raiga,"replied Ranmaru as Raiga began to walk forward, unknown to him that Ranmaru was actually leading him to the cliff's edge.

_"What in the world is he thinking?"_hissed Naruto who had managed to find his way to Kaori and Yue.

_"Could it be...he intends to atone for his sins by killing himself and Raiga?"_ suggested Yue narrowing her eyes.

"I can't let him do that!" said Kaori standing up from her hiding place.

But just before she could do anything a new voice rang out. "Hold it right there! **hic!**"

"Lee-senpai?" Kaori said in surprise when she saw Lee staggering into the scene. Something seemed incredibly off about him. His speech was rough, his face was flushed and Lee couldn't even walk in a straight line.

"What's with you punk?" demanded Lee in an uncouth manner, catching Raiga's attention.

"What the hell was that?" asked Raiga turning around.

Ranmaru peeked through the fog and gasped. "Lee-san!" he exclaimed, forgetting to keep up the fog cover allowing Raiga to see Lee.

Lee glared at the at the two before taking up his Drunken Fist stance. "HERE I GO!" he yelled rushing up them ( and tripped once before getting back on his feet) and began swiping at the fog while Raiga and Ranmaru stared at him.

Lee's strikes cleared what was remaining of the fog as he began striking at Raiga who tried blocking with his one arm but was unsuccessful as Lee forced him to retreat his steps. Raiga looked over his shoulder to see that he was extremely close to the edge and growled at Lee.

Lee spun away and chuckled before suddenly he felt like puking. This annoyed Raiga greatly as his eye began to twitch while a cowlick on his head curled up. "QUIT FOOLIN' AROUND!" he yelled as he raised his sword to summon lighting and shot it at Lee who simply did a head stand and dodged the blast. Raiga looked taken aback but continued to send lightning blast after lightning blast all the while Lee dodged them simply by flopping all over the place before he began to charge at Raiga again. Before Raiga could react, Lee delivered a sharp kick to his chin, causing him and Ranmaru to fly.

Ranmaru began to scream as he went over the edge, only to be caught by Naruto riding Yue. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Ranmaru nodded while Yue hovered in the air.

"Look, I need you to stay with Yue," Naruto ordered.

"No! Take me with you!" protested Ranmaru.

"Yue, I'm counting on you!" said Naruto ignoring Ranmaru.

"Hai!" replied the leopard as Naruto jumped off and began climbing the cliff.

Meanwhile, Kaori stood by as she watched Raiga search desperately for Ranmaru. She recognized the look in his eyes. It was the same look he had years ago when Raika was dying in his arms. Lee, still in his drunken appeared to be unaware of what he had done as he got ready to fight again. "I WON'T FORGIVE YOU!" roared Raiga as he connected the ends of his sword while summoning Lightning as he twirled it above his head.

_"Ninpo: Thunder God Armor!"_he cried as the lightning engulfed his body literally forming and electric armor.

"Lee-senpai, don't do it!" cried Kaori.

"HERE I GO!" declared Lee as he and Raiga began charging at each other. The two collided with a loud explosion as Lee successfully penetrated the armor by driving his fist into Raiga's stomach. However the force of the two attacks was so great that the two were blasted opposite directions. Unfortunately, Lee was knocked unconscious once more but Raiga got up. Kaori ducked behind the rock as fear gripped her while she clutched her head and curled into a ball.

_'This is just like back then! Why can't he just die? This is all my fault! I should have killed him back then! Sensei...what should I do?'_

Just then, Kaori heard the sound of feet landing snapping her out of her mental state. She looked out to see Naruto, Yue and Ranmaru standing in front of Lee.

"Ranmaru, what are you doing?" demanded Raiga.

"I want you to eat it, the Curry of Life!" said Ranmaru in a determined voice. "When you eat it, you will learn the true worth of living, Raiga! It's a wonderful warm feeling! I know what happened to your sister Raiga! I'm sure she would have forgiven both you and Kaori-san for what happened back then!"

Kaori widened her eyes as she bowed her head in shame. "Ranmaru-kun..."

"STOP IT! STOP TALKING ABOUT RAIKA! IT WASN'T MY FAULT!"Raiga screamed, covering his ears.

"Just forgive yourself Raiga! And forgive Kaori-san!"

"SHUT UP! HOW COULD I FORGIVE HER? I SAVED HER LIFE FOR RAIKA'S SAKE AND SHE KILLED MY SISTER!"

Ranmaru, Naruto, Yue and Kaori looked at him startled. This was definitely new to them. "Saved me?" exclaimed Kaori softly and that was when it all began to make sense to her.

"Back then, I was on my way back from the Lightning temple after escorting Raika when I saw that Raijuko being lead away by two other miko. I could sense their killing intent so I followed them. They were so close to killing that girl but I knew my sister would be devastated if something were to happen to that girl so I killed them before they could..." explained Raiga, gripping his swords tightly. "But then...that **_ungrateful little bitch _**went berserk on me! And then Raika arrived...she should've let me killed that Raijuko...but her foolishness had cost my sister her life! And it was all because of that Raijuko!"

"I don't believe Raika was foolish at all," replied Ranmaru calmly. "I don't know why, but I can understand how she felt. Someone as kind and compassionate as her would never approve of killing as a way of stopping people! Your need to take lives, your desire for revenge, it's all for naught Raiga!"

Raiga looked at Ranmaru with a betrayed look on his face. "I don't know you anymore...bring back my RANMARU!" cried Raiga as lightning began to spark all over his body and formed the Thunder Armor once more.

Naruto and Yue began to brace themselves. "Naruto-dono, watch out for that lightning of his..." warned Yue as a growl escaped her throat.

"YOU ARE JUST LIKE MY SISTER! SHE WAS FOOLISH AND SO ARE YOU!" cried Raiga jabbing a sword at Ranmaru.

"Go ahead Raiga, kill us if you want," said Ranmaru without fear in his voice.

"Ranmaru is right, all of this crap about revenge and shit, it's all pointless! This boy has learned that it's better to laugh with everyone than just you! Just stop all this!" said Naruto stepping in front of the boy. Kaori gripped the rock tightly.

"IDIOTS LIKE YOU SHOULD STOP TALKING!" roared Raiga angrily. "I am Kurosuki Raiga, a former member of the Seven Shinobi Swordsmen of the Kirigakure, I will not take orders from the likes of you!" he cried firing a whole barrage of Lightning at the group.

Naruto quickly grabbed Ranmaru while Yue covered them with her wings. The three braced themselves for the Lightning attack to hit when Kaori finally jumped out of her hiding spot and stood in front of them just seconds before the Lightning hit. "Kaori-san!" "Kaori-sama!" cried the three in unison.

The lightning hit Kaori dead on but she seemed to be unfazed by it as she opened her mouth...and began to swallow the lightning. Everybody else gaped as they watched the lightning slowly disappear into Kaori's mouth before she bowed her head closed it, smoke arising from her lips as she began to spark. Suddenly Kaori looked up and glared at Raiga with blazing beast-like eyes as she opened her mouth and fired the attack back at him screaming.

The attack came back at Raiga who simply absorbed it into his swords. "So you're alive as well...good, let's end officially end this once and for all!"

Kaori narrowed her eyes. "Couldn't have said it better myself... you dare raise your hand to the one person who has stuck by your side all this time...you've taken the lives of the innocent and you've hurt my precious friends...LET'S END THIS!" she screamed as lightning came down from the sky and struck her. Yue quickly grabbed the boys and jumped out of harms way.

Raiga screamed as well as the same thing happened to him. Their screams slowly transitioned into beast like cries as the energy surrounding them began to take shape. Yue's eyes widened when she recognized the form.

"Yue, what is that?"demanded Naruto shielding his eyes from the brightness.

"It can't be...Kaori's Raiju!"

"Raiju?" echoed Ranmaru.

"Hai, it's a manifestation of a Raijuko's powers. I haven't seen it since that day!" gasped Yue her ears flattening as her body shook with fright.

Kaori and Raiga continued screaming as their energy continued to take shape. The heat and force from the lightning had broke Kaori's hair-clip, causing her long hair bellow about her.** (P.S. there's a picture of this on my profile labeled 'Raijuko Kaori'.) **

The lightning around Kaori grew and grew until it took the form of a large cat with white glowing eyes and screeched. The same went for Raiga except his was a lot bigger, a dragon with red blazing eyes and roared at the top of it's lungs. Everybody else quickly covered their ears from the sound. The noise was so loud it immediately woke up Neji and Lee.

"What in the world is going here?" yelled Neji plugging his ears.

"It's Raiga and Kaori! They're about to fight to the death!" replied Karashi who also plugged his ears.

The two Raiju faced off each other just as Kaori and Raiga were. At first, nobody moved as tension began to rise and then came the signal. A single lightning flashed which began the attack. Kaori and her Cat Raiju against Raiga and his Dragon Raiju, the two ran at each and clashed.

The Cat slashed at the Dragon which dodged and weaved about it before biting it in the middle. The Cat screamed but it retaliated by smacking the Dragon hard with it's tail. At the same time, Kaori threw a kick at Raiga who blocked with one arm and stabbed at her with his sword. Kaori quickly swiped it away with her gauntlet before successfully delivering another sharp kick to the side. Raiga skidded a few meters but shot back at Kaori with a giant Lightning ball fired from the Dragon. Kaori's Raiju leapt forward and bit down on the ball causing it to disintegrate but that didn't stop the two from clashing again.

Ranmaru held onto to Yue in fright. "Isn't there a way to stop this?"

"I don't know! I never knew what really stopped Kaori-sama back then!"

"But we can't let either one die! I need to find out about Kisame!" yelled Naruto over the noise.

"It's no use Naruto-kun, if we get any closer we'll die too!" yelled Lee this time shielding his eyes.

Ranmaru closed his eyes tightly as he buried his face in Yue's fur. "Stop this...somebody stop this..." he began to cry when something strange happened.

* * *

_Instead of the battlefield, Ranmaru found himself in a large field with an ominous looking sky above him._

_"Ranmaru-kun..." a woman's voice called out to him._

_The boy turned to see a young miko who looked exactly like him save for her green hair similar to Raiga's and her slightly tanned skin. It wasn't hard for Ranmaru to figure who this person was._

_"Raika-sensei, am I right?"_

_The woman smiled at him. "Hai, thank you for taking care of my brother all these years..." she said walking up to Ranmaru and placing a hand on his head._

_"Raika-sensei, I need you to tell me-"_

_"I know what's going on Ranmaru-kun, I've been watching through your eyes. You have a wonderful gift Ranmaru, and you can do wonders with it, just as you had revived my brother. Your power and meeting with Raiga along with crossing paths with Kaori, this whole fight even, was the path created by hitsuzen."_

_"Hitsuzen?" Ranmaru looked at the woman confused but Raika simply smiled. _

_"Listen Ranmaru, I can help you stop this fight and save my brother and Kaori but I need your power too," said Raika looking very serious. "Can you help me?"_

_Ranmaru nodded eagerly. "I can!"_

_Raika nodded and smiled. "You really are suited for my brother. I will help guide you so follow my lead, child."_

_"I'm counting on you Raika-sensei!" replied Ranmaru determinedly.

* * *

_There was a loud explosion which caused Ranmaru to snap open his eyes. Yue had shielded Ranmaru with her wings and body from the blast so the boy was unharmed. Naruto, Lee were also shielded by Yue. Karashi and Neji had also managed to join them at some point. Ranmaru peeked out to see Raiga and Kaori still going at it, despite having already sustained multiple injuries. Kaori's wound was shown to have reopened and was bleeding again while Raiga had received multiple deep scratches. Their clothes were already torn in many places, Raiga having half his shirt ripped off while Kaori's jacket and headband were in shreds. The two were literally going at each other like wild animals just like their Raiju which continued attacking repeatedly.

"If this keeps up, those two are in danger of completely losing their minds or worse, their **_lives!"_**exclaimed Yue as everyone ducked to avoid getting blasted once more.

"Don't you know a way to stop them?" cried Karashi covering his head in fear.

Ranmaru clenched his fists as he stood up. "I do..." he said as he jumped out of the hiding spot.

"Ranmaru, come back!" yelled Neji as the others were about to make a grab for him but were forced back by a lightning blast.

Ranmaru ignored them as he continued running towards Raiga and Kaori dodging stray lightning bolts the best he can. "I'm ready Raika-sensei," he said.

_"Good Ranmaru, let's do it..."_replied Raika's disembodied voice in his head.

The boy slid to a stop before the two and took his stance. He stood straight with his left hand forming half the hand seal for Ram and slowly raised his right hand above his head. Yue widened her eyes as she saw a familiar transparent figure standing next to Ranmaru doing the same.

"What's he doing?" asked Naruto in confusion.

The two Raiju along with Raiga and Kaori paused to look at the boy who stared back hard at them. _"Keep their gaze locked on you Ranmaru-kun, don't look away for a second!"_instructed Raika.

"Raiga-san, Kaori-san! I'm going to stop this right now!" yelled Ranmaru as his eyes began to glow red. **_"Children of the Thunder Beast, in the name of Raijin, I now pacify your anger..."_**Ranmaru and Raika both said, their voices overlapping in each other as waves of chakra began emitting from the boy.

The two Raiju began to roar as they lunged at the boy.

"RANMARU!" cried the guys in horror.

"RANMARU! DO IT NOW!" cried Yue loudly.

**_"RIN!"_** yelled Ranmaru slashing his raised hand to right.

**_"PYOU!"_** he yelled again this time slashing downwards.

_**"TOU! SHAH! KAI! RETSU! ZAI!" **_he continued repeating his movements with each word. _** "ZEN!" **_he finished jabbing his hand at the two Raiju.

Suddenly, the waves of chakra around Ranmaru flew towards the Raiju and wound themselves around their necks and limbs. The Dragon and the Cat roared and screeched loudly prompting everyone to cover their ears as they began to struggle violently. It appeared to have a double effect on Raiga and Kaori who also appeared to be immobilized. Ranmaru's hand shook as he continued keeping his eyes locked on the two. "Raika-sensei, what should I do now?" he asked when suddenly saw a transparent hand hold his. The same was with his left. Ranmaru then noticed Raika's face next to his.

_"Let's do it together now Ranmaru,"_she said smiling.

"Hai!" replied Ranmaru, feeling a new strength.

**_"Let thy rage be quelled and _****_slumbe__r, by Raijin's power, I command you to return!"_**they both commanded.

The two Raiju stopped struggling and looked at Ranmaru once more and gazed into his red eyes before bowing obediently. Slowly, Ranmaru with Raika's hand guiding him, lowered his outstretched hand as the two Raiju disappeared back into Raiga and Kaori who immediately collapsed. Everyone else gasped as they ran towards them.

"Kaori-san!" yelled Lee, Naruto, Neji and Yue.

"Boss!" yelled Karashi.

Ranmaru panted hard and smiled happily. "I...I did it...I did it Raika-sensei..." he said turning only to find Raika had disappeared. "She's gone..."

Suddenly, Ranmaru's vision went all blurry before everything went black.

* * *

_Raiga slowly opened his eyes to an extremely clear sunny sky. "It's bright..." he muttered, shading his eyes._

_"It sure is, isn't it beautiful Onii-sama?" asked a cheerful voice.  
_

_"I guess..." he replied automatically when he recognized the voice. Raiga immediately sat up to find himself in a beautiful sunny field with flowers and green grass going on for miles but he wasn't interested in that. His eyes searched left and right for the speaker when he heard a rustling behind him.  
_

_Raiga whipped his head around to see someone whom he has not seen in a very long time. There she was standing not too far from him smiling serenely. "R-raika?" he gasped in disbelief. "Is that really you?"_

_Raika's smile grew even wider looking just as young as she did when she died. "Onii-sama!" she said._

_"RAIKA!" cried Raiga happily as he ran up to his sister and hugged her tightly. "Raika...I don't believe it...it's really you..." he said as tears, real ones, began running down his face. "I'm so, so, sorry, I didn't mean to..."_

_Raika closed her eyes and stroked her brother's hair as she hugged him back. "Daijobu Onii-sama...I don't blame you at all..." she replied gently._

_Raiga released her for a moment to look at her with his tear filled eyes. "So you blame that Raijuko as well right?" he asked._

_Raika sighed and shook her head. "No, Raiga-niisama, I don't blame Kaori-chan either, no one is to blame for my death."_

_"But-" Raiga was about to protest when Raika lifted a hand to hush him._

_"Onii-sama, let's sit down shall we?" she suggested as the two sat together on the grass. "I know my death has caused you a lot of grief and pain brother, but I want you to just forget it all. I died because my time was already up, I've done my part in raising Kaori-chan, that was my purpose in life."_

_"But I can't bring myself to forgive her! If you hadn't met her you would still be alive!"_

_Raika sighed even more heavily in exasperation and rolled up her sleeve. **BAM!**_

_"ITAAAAIIIII!" yelled Raiga clutching his head as a large smoking red bump began to swell on the back of it. "Whatcha' do that for?"_

_"Oh Raiga-niisama, you really are an idiot sometimes do you know that?" said Raika shaking her head before leaning back and looking at the sky. "My point is, you have been living for all the wrong reasons. The reason you are alive was because hitsuzen has given you a purpose to serve."_

_"Again with the 'hitsuzen' talk! I don't get you!" exclaimed Raiga exasperatedly much to Raika's amusement. _

_"Silly brother, I'm talking about Ranmaru-kun."_

_"Ranmaru?"_

_Raika chuckled and leaned her head on her brother's shoulder. "You gave the boy a reason to live when the whole world rejected him, that became the path created by hitsuzen. To live life peacefully along with Ranmaru, that is your purpose Raiga-oniisama."_

_"My purpose..."_

_"He truly does love you Onii-sama, enough to risk his own life."_

_Raiga smiled tenderly as he leaned his own head against his sister's. "Yeah...he is a good kid," he said, placing an arm around his sister. "I really missed you Raika..."_

_"So did I brother, so did I.." replied Raika placing a kiss on her brother's cheek. "I love you, Raiga-niisama."_

_"I love you too little sister," said Raiga hugging Raika tightly.

* * *

_

"R-raika..." muttered Raiga as tears streamed from his eyes. He opened them to find the field and his sister gone, only to look up at a wooden ceiling.

"You awake?"

Raiga slowly got up to see Naruto sitting on the other side of the room. That was when he realized that he was all bandaged up with his left arm in a sling. "I'm alive?"

"Sure as hell man," replied Naruto grinning. "All thanks to Ranmaru."

"Ranmaru?"

"Yep, he did some weird chanting while you and Kaori-san were fighting and you collapsed," explained Naruto. "Kid really is something!"

"Ranmaru...where is he?" asked Raiga.

"Downstairs in the kitchen with Sansho-baasan and Karashi-san, there's something he wants you to try."

Meanwhile, Ranmaru was in the kitchen standing on a stool, stirring a large pot of curry when Karashi, dressed in normal home clothes conked him on the head with a ladle. "Come on! Put some elbow into it! You'll never make the real Curry of Life with that energy!"complained Karashi.

"You should talk!" scolded Sansho flying in and hitting her son hard on the head with her own ladle. "You're a 100 years to young to say that's the real Curry of Life! I'm having you learn everything from scratch!"

"Oh come on!" groaned her son.

Just then, the three heard the stairs creak, alerting them to turn their heads to see Raiga coming down the stairs with Naruto helping him. "Oh my!" "Boss!" "Raiga!" the three exclaimed happily.

Ranmaru hopped of his stool, ran and glomped Raiga, knocking him of his feet. "Thank goodness, you're alright!" the boy cried tearfully, throwing his arms around Raiga's neck.

Raiga smiled as he patted the boy's head as he sat up, cringing a little in pain. "I have you to thank for that Ranmaru..."

Just then Ranmaru's head perked up, remembering something. "Oh yeah, Raiga-san, take a seat, I'll be right back!" he said jumping off Raiga's lap and dashing into the kitchen while Karashi and Naruto helped Raiga to the table.

Ranmaru came back shortly with a plate of hot steaming curry rice. "Raiga-san, eat this!" urged the boy enthusiastically. "It will help you get your strength back in no time!"

The man looked at Ranmaru before looking at his plate before grabbing the spoon and putting a large scoop of rice into his mouth. **(R.F: Big Mistake, I say...)**

At first, there was no reaction from Raiga as everyone looked at him intently and then...**_"HOLY RAIJIN!"_** screamed Raiga as flames spewed out from his mouth. "This tastes amazing!" he exclaimed as he wolfed down the whole plate.

"That's the Curry of Life for you!" exclaimed Naruto grinning.

"This is the Curry of Life?" asked Raiga once put his place down.

Ranmaru smiled happily. "Do you feel it? The feeling of being alive?"

Raiga stared at his empty plate silently. "I do...it..it feels great!"

"Doesn't it?" exclaimed Naruto.

Raiga glanced over at the boy for a moment."You, where's that Ra-Kaori?" asked Raiga pausing slightly.

"Over at the Gold Mines, Kaori said she wanted to see you once you got up," answered Naruto.

The man widen his eyes a little in surprise._'She did?...'

* * *

_Meanwhile, at the Gold Mines, Kaori stood in the center of the graveyard where all the victims were buried alive. Instead of her usual clothes, Kaori wore a miko's attire only it was blue where it was supposed to be red. Her forehead was bandaged up along with her waist and her neck. Her hands were also bandaged due to cuts and burns she had sustained. Since her hair-clip was broken her hair was tied in a low ponytail with a white ribbon. Kaori also wore traditional straw sandals with single toed socks while by her feet lay her Cat Sash Bells. Watching her from a distance was Neji, Lee and Yue.

"So, what exactly is this?" asked Lee curiously to Yue who sat on his shoulder..

"Just watch Lee-dono, you are about to see Kaori-sama perform a purification ceremony for the trapped spirits," explained Yue.

Reaching into her sleeve, Kaori pulled out a small bag of salt and began sprinkling over the grave mounds. Neji and Lee looked to Yue for an explanation.

"The act of sprinkling salt is to first purify the negative energy of the area and releasing the spirits from being bound to the earth. Blessed water is normally used but salt is just as effective," explained the kitten just as Kaori had finished sprinkling and picked up her bells. "Now comes the prayer for safe passage."

Kaori closed her eyes, spread out her arms and rung her bells once, their sound resonating in the morning air._ "Spirits bound to the earth, I pray for your safe passage to the afterlife. May Kami-sama forgive your sins and cleanse you all of regrets. I now release you..."_ recited Kaori as she let her bells drop but still hung on to the sash so that the bells were suspended a few inches of the ground. The bells swung back and forth like pendulums, ringing loudly with each swing._"Rin, Pyou, Tou, Shah, Kai, Chin, Retsu, Rin, Kai, Zen..."_she chanted slowly in time to the ringing.

The boys could feel the hair on their skin prickling for some reason. They began to gape as multiple small visible spirit balls began rising out from the ground and into the sky. "Woah..." breathed Neji.

"Pretty..." said Lee.

The beautiful sight didn't really last long but it was enough to leave Neji and Lee still gaping towards the sky. When she was finally finished Kaori made her bells disappear and brushed her hair out of her eyes before walking towards the boys. Yue quickly smacked them upside the heads so that the snapped out of it before Kaori reached them.

"Oi! Minna!" called Naruto at a distance running up to them, alerting everyone to look in his direction. Not far behind him was Raiga carrying a narrow bundle in his right hand while being led by Ranmaru followed by Karashi.

Neji and Lee became a bit cautious when they saw Raiga and protectively stood in front of Kaori.

"It's ok guys," she said gently pushing past them. "Raiga, how are your wounds?"

Raiga smirked a little. "Could be better," he replied. "and you?"

"The same..." replied Kaori followed by an awkward silence before she finally started speaking again. "Look Raiga, Yue has explained everything that had happened and I was thinking...I think it's time we should be doing what we should have done a long time ago...I..forgive you..." she said biting her lip a little.

Raiga looked down at Ranmaru who gave him a reassuring look before he looked at Kaori. He took a deep breath and scratched the back of his head. "Heh, you took the words right out of my mouth kid. But you're right, for Raika's sake...and Ranmaru's..." Raiga began to say placing a hand on the surprised boy's head."I forgive you too..."

Another awkward silence followed. Naruto glanced between the two and sighed heavily. "OK! We'll just go ahead and give you two some space!" exclaimed Naruto as he gave everyone the sign to scram. The others hurriedly nodded and began to scurry away. Yue hopped onto Naruto's shoulder.

_"You're not really serious about leaving them together after last night are you?"_ whispered Yue worriedly.

"Nah, it's cool Yue!" replied Naruto scratching the kitten's ears.

Yue glanced over her shoulder uneasily but she decided to trust the blond boy on this one.

* * *

Raiga and Kaori began to walk after them as soon as they were quite a distance already ahead. Another silence hung between them until they began to talk again. "Soooo you're a kunoichi now, huh?" asked Raiga trying to make conversation.

"Y-yes I am..."stuttered Kaori a little. "Ranmaru really is a good boy..." she said changing the subject.

"Huh? O-oh yeah, he is...the resemblance is amazing don't you think?"

"Uncanny..."

Once more with the silence. Raiga took another deep breath before he remembered the bundle in his hand. "Kaori, I wanted to give you this..." he said passing the bundle to her.

Kaori curiously accepted it and unwrapped it. She gasped when she found out it was Raiga's spiked swords. She looked at the man in surprise. "But Raiga...your swords..."

"Keep them and use them well, I've decided... to retire as a ninja..." said Raiga before looking towards the sky. "I'm going to live the rest of my life peacefully help Sansho-baasan, Karashi and Ranmaru at the restaurant...its the least I could do... to be with Ranmaru..."

"Raiga..."muttered Kaori softly as she gripped the swords. "I'll take good care of them..."

"I'm sure you will."

* * *

Upon reaching the shop, Naruto, and Neji came bursting out of the restaurant with their bags and Lee in tow, much to the surprise of Raiga and Kaori.

"Kaori-san, you're back! Let's go!" exclaimed Naruto jogging on the spot. He was carrying Kaori's bag on his front along with his own while Neji kept his grip on a struggling Lee. Yue too burst out and transformed into her Winged Beast Form.

"Come Kaori-sama, we must get you home and tend to your wounds!" urged the leopard hurriedly as she scooped up Neji and Lee onto her back so that they rode in the front followed by Naruto.

Kaori sniffed the air and curiously glanced into the restaurant to see a table with four plates blazing red curry. Her eyes popped open as she quickly politely bowed to Sansho, Karashi, Ranmaru and even Raiga before jumping on Yue's back.

As the leopard took off, Ranmaru glanced up at Raiga. "Hey Raiga? What's hitsuzen?"

Raiga looked down at Ranmaru in surprise before a knowing smile took over his face. "It means the inevitable...call it fate if you will...it's a word used to describe the connection of events that occur because they were supposed to..."

...

Just then, Kaori felt a tingling which influenced her to turn around. Her eyes widened when she saw the transparent form of her late mentor Raika smiling and waving at her as she stood by Ranmaru. Raika continued to smile as she placed a finger to her lips and gestured to her brother before disappearing. Kaori smiled and nodded slightly as she turned her head to the front smiling happily to herself. Meanwhile, as Yue flapped her wings harder to pick up speed Lee looked behind with huge teary eyes. **_"MY CUUUURRRRYYYYY!"_** he cried dramatically sticking out his hand to the restaurant as Yue flew further and further away.

* * *

**_R.F.: *sits in a nearby tree watching the group fly past and shakes head* Oh Lee-kun...Anyway this concludes the Raijuko arc with a happy ending...for most people. Don't forget to send in you reviews and/or ideas for later chapters to come! Hey, I might even toss in your OCs for you guys if you'd like! Till next time, bye-bee!_**


	23. The Story of Kiba and Hikari

**_R.F: By the way, just so you know__, this story takes place from and during Kaori's time at the Katabami Gold Mines._**

* * *

_**Chapter 20: The Story of Hikari and Kiba...  
**_

Kaori sat in a chair near the hospital window dressed in her usual attire. Only a day had passed since her mission at the Katabami Gold Mines so Tsunade gave her a break. Kaori's thoughts were still going though the events that had happened to her when a cough interrupted her thoughts.

"Kaori? Kaori?" called a voice that snapped Kaori back to real time. The girl turned to face her sister, Hikari, who sat in one of the hospital beds with a bandaged foot.

"Nani, Hikari-oneesama?"

Hikari frowned in annoyance and folded her arms. "Moh, Kaori! You haven't been listening to a single word I've said haven't you?"

"Gomene..."

Hikari sighed and shook her head. "Don't mention it. After what happened on your last mission I don't blame you for spacing out. I'll start from the beginning," offered Hikari as she began her story.

* * *

**_A Few Days Ago..._**

* * *

"Hora! Ri-kun! Hurry up will ya'?" yelled Kiba over his shoulder to the red head who ran behind him.

"Arf!" barked Akamaru, poking his head from Kiba's jacket.

**_"U-ru-sa-i!"_** retorted Hikari and Akane, who popped her head out from under Hikari's hair, stressing each syllable.

Up ahead was the gates of Konoha where Shino stood leaning against one of the doors waiting patiently.

"Yo! Shino!" greeted Kiba cheerfully.

"You two are late. You should never be late. Why? Because it's rude," replied Shino, obviously sulking.

"Gomen, gomen..." replied Kiba while Hikari folded her arms and rolled her eyes.

_'Tch, men...' _"Let's go already, the sooner we get this mission done, the sooner I can stop hanging around you guys..." said Hikari in distaste as she walked ahead of the guys who quickly went after her.

Unknown to them, a chair from Tsunade's office came flying down seconds later and crashing through the roof of the guard stand landing right smack on Izumo's head.

* * *

"Hora, Ri-kun. Shino's the leader for this mission, as least show some respect," chided Kiba as he jogged behind the girl while Shino walked behind the two.

Hikari scoffed before folding her arms again. "My respect is earned, not given. Besides, no way am I letting myself being ordered by a guy! And who're ya' callin' 'Ri-kun'? I'm a girl!"

"It's because of your damn attitude! You're too boyish to even be referred to as a girl!" snapped Kiba in irritation.

Hikari's hair flared out in anger like an angry cat at Kiba's retort. "Say that again! I dare you!" snarled Hikari whipping around to face Kiba who began snarling back.

The two glared at each other so fiercely that Akamaru and Akane quickly ran to Shino and cowered in his arms. A snarling cat and dog could be seen in Hikari's and Kiba's backgrounds just ready to start fighting. They both would've gone at it too if it weren't for Shino interfering by pulling them apart with his insects.

"That's enough you two. Hikari-san, even if you are a new member, you are under my charge as Tsunade-sama has ordered. If you really want this mission to be done with quickly then I suggest you will save your arguing for later."

Hikari struggled violently but was restrained tightly by Shino's bugs though he had already released Kiba earlier. Akane jumped from Shino's shoulder and was on the ground looking up at her mistress worriedly.

"Onegai, Hikari-sama! If not for Shino-dono, at least do it for Tsunade-sama!" pleaded the kitten with huge eyes.

Hikari's eye twitched at Akane's cuteness. _'Damn it...I hate when she does that...'_ "Ugh! Fine!" sighed Hikari as Shino finally released her.

The girl glared at Shino as she tossed her hair and stomped off but not before purposely stomping on Shino's foot. Kiba cringed at the sound of impact as he watched Akane quickly run after Hikari.

"Dude, she just stomped on your foot!"exclaimed Kiba turning his head back to Shino who still appeared stone faced.

"Aru?" asked Akamaru in concern.

"Yes, and it was very painful," replied Shino simply despite his obviously throbbing toes which would have probably been screaming if they had mouths.

Kiba and Akamaru looked at each other and shrugged before jogging after Hikari. Once they had their backs turned, Shino twitched violently and chewed his sleeve before taking a deep breath.

"Ow..." he managed to squeeze out before limping after the two.

* * *

It was a few hours before the group finally reached their destination, the Flower Village. But to their surprise, the place was a wrecked ghost town right down to the random tumbleweed bouncing past. House and shops were ransacked and doors were smashed while windows were shattered. Obvious signs of a bear invasion. Not a soul was in sight.

"Hello!" called Kiba as the group walked into town. "Anyone?"

"We were summoned from Konoha about your bear problem!" added Hikari looking around. "What a mess..."

All of a sudden, the group heard a sound causing them to look in that direction. There, up the road was a large black bull pawing its hoof against the ground. It's eyes were blazing red as it snorted loudly, causing dust to fly.

The bull was huge and it's horns were especially long and sharp. It's black coat was dusty and covered with large visible scars, remnants of a vicious fight.

The boys quickly tensed up when they saw the bull..

"Nobody move a muscle..." whispered Kiba cautiously.

Hikari smiled confidently as she made eye contact with the bull. "So you wanna fight? BRING IT ON COW!" she challenged loudly.

"RI-KUN ,WHY THE HELL ARE YOU PICKING A FIGHT WITH IT ?" exclaimed Kiba when the bull suddenly lowered it's head and came charging full tilt at the group.

_"Beast Transformation Jutsu!"_ exclaimed Akane as she quickly transformed into her panther form and carried away the two boys while Hikari just stood there.

"Akane! What about Hikari?" yelled Kiba as Akane brought the boys onto the roof of a nearby building.

"Just watch," replied the panther simply, not seeming the least bit worried.

_"MOOO!"_ bellowed the bull angrily as it got closer to Hikari when the girl suddenly stuck out her hand as her pupils became slits while she grinned.

**_BOOM!_** A huge explosion of dust appeared. Kiba, Akamaru and Shino quickly covered their faces.

"RI-KUN!" called Kiba when he stopped and looked down to see the dust clear up.

Hikari was still standing and she was looking tougher than ever as she stared down the bull who appeared to be in shock. Hikari's hand had a tight grip on the bull's nose, stopping the bull in it's tracks.

Kiba and Akamaru's mouths fell open while Shino raised his eyebrows. "As I thought...she is strong..." Shino muttered.

* * *

_**With Hikari and the bull...**_

* * *

With a single twist of her hand, Hikari forced the bull to the ground and stared at it in the eye. The bull snorted and bellowed angrily at Hikari and tried to struggle a little but not too much due the grip on it's snout.

"Calm down, I'm not going to hurt you..." said Hikari in a soft but firm voice.

The bull snorted again but less fiercely until Hikari started started to stroke it's head gently. "There, there...just relax Big Guy...That's a sweetie..." she cooed.

Finally the bull looked at Hikari in the eye and finally decided to relax with a final snort. Slowly, Hikari released her grip on the bull and allowed it to stand up as she petted it on the nose. She then turned towards the others and stuck a thumb in the air. Akane looked down and nodded.

"We're good," informed Akane as the group jumped down. Hikari then stepped back to let Akane take the lead with the bull.

* * *

After witnessing Akane converse a bit with the bull, the cat turned to the group.

"This bull is Kuroushi, he serves the village leader," introduced Akane. "According to him, due to the frequent bear attacks, the village leader had everyone evacuated from here. The only people left are he, his son and nephew, and Kuroushi."

"Take us to him," commanded Shino furrowing his brows.

The bull nodded and grunted before turning and leading them towards the village leader's house with Akane sitting on Kuroushi's head. Kiba side-glanced a little at Hikari, a little impressed at how well she handled the bull.

* * *

A few minutes of walking soon led the group to a large house that was surrounded by a gate that was made of wooden spikes and lined with barbed wire. Near the front was a boy who looked around 14 years old. He had golden eyes, short navy blue wavy hair and a tiny star shaped mole next to his right eye.

His brow was furrowed as he concentrated intently on reinforcing the barricade with more wooden spikes.

Kuroushi snorted loudly to grab the boy's attention as Akane hopped back onto Hikari's head while Akamaru climbed onto Kiba's shoulder.

"Oh! Kuroushi! Where've ya been?" exclaimed the boy happily as he greeted the bull when he noticed the rest. "Who are you guys?"

Shino took a step forward. "We are the team sent from Konoha regarding your bear issue."

The boy raised his eyebrows as he looked at the group clearly unimpressed and shrugged.

"Ok then, come on in, my Uncle and cousin are inside," he said as he led them inside. "I'm Yoru by the way."

"Nice to meet you," replied Shino curtly as the genin walked inside.

Kiba glanced around the front at the spike barricade and whistled. "Wow, you did all that?"

"Some of it, it was my cousin's idea ever since the bears started coming in," answered Yoru glancing over a little as he led them down a hall. "They're the only thing protecting this house from the bears, aside from Kuroushi."

It wasn't long until the group found themselves in a large room where a rough looking man was sharpening a katana. His expression was stern but his build suggested that this man was a lot stronger than his age implies. His hair was gray, but the genin could see the faint traces of blond hair the man once had.

Next to him sat a young man whom the group guessed was the son, was close to 20 years old in estimate. Like his father, he was blond and well built. His sleeveless shirt revealing some well defined biceps on his arms.

"Asa-jii, Shogo-niisan, the ninjas from Konoha have arrived," informed Yoru as he sat the ninjas down and left the room.

The genin sat down and waited as the young man glanced at them, particularly at Hikari, unimpressed just like the boy before.

"_**You're**_ the group sent by Konoha?" said the man incredulously."You're just kids!"

Shino and Kiba furrowed their brows while Hikari suppressed growls from within her chest as she clenched her fist tightly on her lap.

"Akarui Shogo-san, I believe?" addressed Shino being ignoring the young man's remark.

The older man finally put his sword down. "Yes, this one here is my son, Shogo, he was the one that sent in my request. I'm Akarui Asa, his father and also the village leader. I believe you have met my nephew, Yoru."

_"Briefly..."_ muttered Hikari curtly under her breath while Kiba gave a warning cough.

"As I assume the Hokage-sama has explained, the Flower Village has been experiencing these bear invasions for a couple of weeks now," began Asa, not noticing the girl's remark.

"The thing is, these bears have been living in the neighboring mountains for a long time and have never once entered our village before until now. They seem to be enraged at something, I believe. That's why I had the villagers evacuated until this problem can be sorted out."

Hikari narrowed her eyes a little as her suspicions were perked a little. Kiba glanced over discreetly, noticing the slight change in her demeanor.

"Anyway, we just need you three to help us take out the bears so we can relocate them back to the mountains using these," explained Asa as he placed a vial of bear tranquilizer in front of them. "We would have done it ourselves, but these bears are quite fast and we need all the help we can get."

Shogo narrowed his eyes at the trio in front of him. Judging from the look on his face, it was no secret that he disapproved of the help. "Tou-chan, can I see you outside please?" he asked calmly as the two got up and went out the room just as Yoru came back with a tray.

He flinched a little as his cousin slammed the door behind him.

"Yeesh..." muttered Yoru as he brought the tea tray to the group and began serving the drinks. Milk was poured into to small saucers for Akamaru and Akane to share. "You have to excuse my cousin, he's not as open-minded as my uncle."

"Really? I haven't noticed..." replied Kiba with blunt sarcasm.

Hikari didn't say anything. She wasn't even paying attention to the boys. With her sharp hearing, Hikari could hear everything going on outside clearly.

* * *

_**Hikari's hearing**_

_"Tou-chan you can't be serious! They're nothing but kids, they'll screw this up!"Hikari heard Shogo in loud whisper.  
_

_"Shogo, don't be an idiot! We can't afford to pay for better ninja! We are already spending a lot on repairs for the village just as it is! Besides, we're just tranquilizing the bears!" came Asa's retort._

_**(Hikari's eye twitched a little as she brushed her hair behind her ears.)**_

_"Oh come on! Tranquilizing? Seriously? Those beasts will just come back down the mountain again! I still say we should just kill them off and be done with them once and for all!"_

_"Shogo-"_

_"And look at those **kids**! I bet they won't last five minutes! One minute for the girl!"_

_**(Now at this point, a vein began to throb on Hikari's forehead at that last remark. In her head, she was beginning to think of all the various torture methods she could inflict on Shogo.)**_

_"SHOGO! You listen here, while I'm standing, these bears are to be protected! I promised your mother-!"_

_"**Don't ** you even **dare** bring up Kaa-chan's name!" growled the man as Hikari heard him stomp back._

* * *

The group quickly sat up straight as Shogo roughly shoved the door open.

"Alright so here's the deal," began Shogo putting his hands on his hips. "We're gonna give you kids a week to help take care of this bear issue!" he said when his eyes suddenly traveled over to Hikari. "Don't slow us down!" he said in a condescending tone.

Kiba and Shino shifted their gaze to Hikari, worried about how she would react. The girl said nothing as she bowed her head a little. Kiba gulped a little as he began playing the many possible worst-case scenarios in his head like Hikari going crazy and beating up the client or something.

That is why what happened next took the boys completely by surprise. It was a tense, heart-pumping moment as time seemed to slow down when Hikari raised her head.

_'Oh god...oh god...oh god...'_ thought Kiba in panic when Hikari's lips parted. _'Here it comes...'_

"Ok then, it's a deal~!" replied Hikari with a **_bright, cheerful_ **smile on her face that practically lit up the room.

Shino's and Kiba's mouths dropped open slowly in silent shock. But in their heads they were practically screaming, '_**WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?'**_

Shogo quirked an eyebrow at them before grunting and leaving the room while Asa gave the kids an apologetic nod.

"You three better well tonight, we shall go searching for the bears tomorrow at dawn," informed the old man before he made his leave as well.

Akane narrowed her eyes after the younger man. _"Tch, what a grouch..."_ she muttered to Akamaru who was beside her, who yipped in agreement.

Yoru and the rest got up and straightened themselves out as the two animals jumped into the arms of their respective owners.

"Come on, I'll show you guys to your room," offered Yoru leading them up a flight of stairs.

Kiba continued glancing over at Hikari who still wore a sparkly smile on her face. However the moment, Yoru had his back turned, the sparkly facade disappear in an instant with a black expression of pure rage on Hikari's face making Kiba and Akamaru cling together in fight.

At one point Yoru turned back to face them, and much to Kiba's surprise, Hikari appeared with a sparkly expression in mere seconds.

Kiba gulped as he turned his head into the shadows. _'Out of all the women in the world...I get the demonic one for a fiancee...Oh Kami-sama, I beg of you what was the sin so great I have committed?' _he lamented dramatically in his head.

Sitting on Hikari's soldier, Akane could sense Kiba's sense of dread. In her own mind, Akane was mentally sighing and praying for Kiba's mental health. _'Kiba-dono...you have much to learn about your future wife...'_

"Ano...Yoru-san, was it?" spoke up Hikari still keeping her 'nice, ditzy, girl' act up. "Can you tell me if there is a lake anywhere nearby here? Or maybe a river?"

Yoru turned and looked at Hikari questioningly before thinking for a while. "Well, there is a river and waterfall just a little outside the village towards the east."

"That'll do, I'll be right back," said Hikari with a smile still plastered on her face as she walked off with Akane.

The moment Hikari was gone, Yoru let out a long whistle. "Your friend is pretty weird, if you don't mind me saying."

Shino shrugged while Kiba twitched before forcing a weak smile.

"Dude...weird barely even scratches the surface..." said Kiba bluntly.

"Aru..." whimpered Akamaru in agreement...


End file.
